Sepsis

General information about a disease

Blood poisoning (sepsis) is an acute or chronic disease which arises owing to penetration into an organism of bacterial, virus or fungal flora. Many people consider that sepsis of blood develops after suppuration of heavy wounds, however, in reality there is a set of other "gate" through which the infection can get into circulatory system, and very often it turns out that actual reasons of a disease do not manage to be found out.

The main danger of sepsis is that it can proceed very quickly, sometimes immediately. In practice, sepsis which treatment was begun too late quite often leads to the death of the person in several hours after emergence of the first symptoms. Certainly, similar effects cause huge concern in the scientific environment and for this reason hundreds of researchers from the different countries of the world work on search of new methods which would allow to reveal sepsis at children and adults in time, and would minimize development of serious complications.

Disease etiology

The most different microorganisms act as causative agents of sepsis: staphylococcus, meningokokk, pneumococci, colibacillus, a mycobacterium of tuberculosis, a klebsiyell, mushrooms like Candida, viruses of gerpetimorfny group. It should be noted that development of sepsis is connected not so much with properties of activators, how many with a condition of a human body and its immunity. Decrease in efficiency of protective barriers leads to the fact that our security systems cannot localize harmful activators in time any more and the more so to prevent their penetration in various bodies.

If to speak about the most widespread ways of infection with sepsis, then It should be noted that they depend on type of the specific activator. The features and epidemiological premises are characteristic of each of them. Independently there are only cases when at patients intrahospital sepsis which symptoms have sometimes an effect even after inhalation of badly purified air on chambers develops (in 60% of tests potentially dangerous microorganisms come to light). It is also possible to allocate also other ways of infection defining the main symptoms of sepsis:

• cherezkozhny sepsis;
• oral;
• obstetric and gynecologic;
• otogenic;
• cryptogenic;
• the blood poisoning occurring owing to surgical and diagnostic manipulations.

Identification of "gate" through which sepsis got has huge value for successful treatment of patients. Early diagnosis of sepsis allows to reveal an infection in time, to separate it from cases of short-term finding of microbes in blood and to activate protective systems of an organism.

As we already told above, development of sepsis requires observance of some conditions, in particular:

• existence of primary center (it has to be connected with circulatory system or absorbent vessels);
• repeated penetration of activators into blood;
• formation of the secondary centers which also deliver further activators;
• inability of an organism to organize a necessary host defense and to provoke reactions against harmful microbes.

Only if all these conditions are met and the patient has corresponding clinical signs of an infection, doctors diagnose blood sepsis. Development of sepsis is provoked by a serious illness (diabetes, cancer tumors, rickets, HIV, inborn defects of immune system), therapeutic actions, injuries, long reception of immunodepressive drugs, a roentgenotherapy and some other factors.

Sepsis symptoms

Complaints of patients are very various, but the main attention should be paid to the following symptoms of sepsis:

• strong fever;
• fervescence;
• change of a mental condition of the patient (euphoria or, on the contrary, apathy);
• tired, indifferent look;
• pallor of integuments;
• hollowness of cheeks;
• giperemirovanost of the person;
• plentiful sweating;
• petekhialny hemorrhages in the form of strips and spots on the surface of forearms and shins.

Besides, sepsis can be shown by the herpes on lips, bleeding of mucous membranes of an oral cavity complicated by breath, emergence of consolidations and pustules on skin. Despite abundance of symptoms of sepsis, temperature, a fever and perspiration remain the main signs on which it is possible to reveal blood sepsis. Attacks of a fever correspond to a massive exit of toxins from the inflammation centers in blood then at patients temperature always increases and plentiful sweat appears. Quite often people are forced several times in day to change underwear which literally becomes impregnated then. Let's notice what at any suspicions of sepsis, treatment needs to be begun as soon as possible as the infection is extremely dangerous and can lead to a lethal outcome.

Diagnosis of sepsis

At diagnosis of sepsis at patients blood samples from the inflammation center undertake. Further from the taken samples try to allocate the activator, and repeated crops and a long incubation for this purpose are required. A set of factors exert impact on success of this procedure. In particular, quite often doctors receive negative takes because of the carried-out earlier antimicrobic therapy or owing to the slow growth of number of activators. To avoid the wrong conclusions, blood tests have to be confirmed by bacteriological researches of materials and careful survey of an enanthesis and mucous membranes.

Treatment of sepsis

Effective treatment of sepsis is one of the most important problems of modern medicine. As a matter of fact, it differs in nothing from treatment of other infectious processes, but at the same time doctors have to consider surely high risk of a lethal outcome and development of serious complications. The following events are regarded as of paramount importance:

• fight against intoxication;
• counteraction to harmful microflora;
• stimulation of immunobiological reserves of an organism;
• correction of disturbances in work of the vital systems and bodies;
• symptomatic treatment.

The diet is appointed sick sepsis and absolute rest is recommended. The condition of the center of an inflammation is constantly controlled for the timely prevention of acute reactions. To patients high doses of antibiotics, in hard cases – corticosteroids are appointed. By also sick sepsis do blood plasma transfusion, enter gamma-globulin and glucose. At development of dysbacteriosis and other undesirable effects accept symptomatic means. If improvement of a state is not observed, doctors consider a question of surgical treatment. In a row a case it is really necessary, if specialists hesitate too long, sepsis at children and adults can lead to a lethal outcome. An operative measure includes: opening of abscesses, bandaging of veins at thrombophlebitis, amputation of extremities and other similar actions.

Sepsis of newborns

Frequency of incidence of sepsis of newborns makes 1-8 cases for 1000. Mortality is quite high (13-50%) therefore at any suspicions of sepsis, treatment and diagnosis have to be carried out as soon as possible. Premature children as in their case the disease can immediately develop because of the weakened immunity get into group of extra risk.

Sepsis gets to the child's organism in the different ways. Early forms of sepsis usually are explained by transplatsentrany penetration and infection with a hematogenous way or contact with the infected vulval flora at the time of delivery. Late sepsis of newborns is also connected with infection with vulval microflora, but for a number of not clear reasons it is shown considerably later (on 2-3 week of life). Activation of an intrahospital form of a disease when activators get into blood as a result of non-compliance with sanitary and hygienic rules or the accompanying development of serious illnesses is possible.

Treatment of sepsis of newborns considers age of patients and is carried out only under control of experienced specialists who define a set of the drugs and procedures necessary for preservation of life of the child.