Sepsis (also known as blood poisoning) is the immune system’s overreaction to an infection or injury. Normally our immune system fights infection – but sometimes, for reasons we don’t yet understand, it attacks our body’s own organs and tissues. If not treated immediately, sepsis can result in organ failure and death. Yet with early diagnosis, it can be treated with antibiotics.
Sepsis can initially look like flu, gastroenteritis or a chest infection. There is no one sign, and symptoms present differently between adults and children.
A child may have sepsis if he or she:
If you spot any of these signs, call 999 or go straight to A&E and Just ask: “could it be sepsis?”
A child under 5 may have sepsis if he or she:
If you spot any of these signs, call 111 or see your GP and Just ask: “could it be sepsis?”
hospital admissions with sepsis each year in the UK occur in children
of all sepsis survivors suffer permanent, life-changing after effects
people die with sepsis every hour in the UK