Sepsis, defined as an infection with irregular host response that causes life-threatening organ dysfunction, continues to have a high potential for morbidity and mortality in children. 1 Paediatric sepsis is the most common cause of paediatric death worldwide and results in an estimated 7.5 million deaths per year. 2,3 Severe paediatric sepsis is a life-threatening condition that is widely monitored and treated in paediatric intensive care units (PICUs) worldwide. [2][3][4] Severe sepsis is defined as infection plus infection-induced organ dysfunction; in children, it is characterised by the presence of sepsis and cardiovascular or respiratory dysfunction or dysfunction in two or more organs (neurological, hepatic, hematologic or renal). The prevalence of severe sepsis in PICUs has been reported to be between 2% and 3% in developed countries 5,6 and between 18% and 46% in developing countries. 7,8 In a study conducted in southwest China, the mortality