Article posted on:04/24/2008

Sepsis - the body's ultimate response to a bacterial infection -- is characterized by severe reaction of the body's organs to the foreign bacteria and/or death. Although sepsis often results from the widespread invasion of bacteria into a patient's bloodstream, this invasion is not essential for the development of severe sepsis since local infection/inflammation can also cause distant organ dysfunction and blood pressure irregularities. Many studies indicate that to make a diagnosis of the clinical syndrome sepsis, at least two of the following four symptoms must be present: (1) elevated white blood cell count; (2) elevated pulse; (3) elevated breathing rate; and (4) temperature above 100.4 degrees Fahrenheit. Other symptoms that are commonly associated with sepsis include shaking/chills; vomiting; diffuse body pain; and abnormal behavior/neurological abnormalities. Although blood cultures can, in some instances, be utilized to confirm the presence of sepsis, these cultures also produce a high incidence of false negatives. In fact, studies show that blood cultures yield bacteria in only 20-40 percent of the cases in which a patient has severe sepsis and in only 40-70 percent of instances in which a patient is suffering from septic shock, the precursor to death. Put more simply, even where it is the judgment of the physician that a person has died of sepsis, in many cases, there is an absence of positive blood cultures supporting that conclusion. Finally, these same studies show that in many cases of sepsis, a patient may not exhibit any outward clinical signs or symptoms of being sick or have positive blood cultures. If you believe that a friend or loved one has died as a result of a misdiagnosed case of sepsis, call the lawyers at STSW for a free consultation.