Sepsis

• Sepsis is a syndromic life-threatening response to infection and is frequently a final common pathway to death from many infectious diseases worldwide.
• According to the World Health Organization (WHO) the global burden of sepsis is difficult to ascertain, although a recent scientific publication estimated that there were 48.9 million cases and 11 million sepsis-related deaths worldwide each year, which accounted for almost 20% of all global deaths.
• A 2017 study published in England indicated that almost half of all global sepsis cases occurred among children, with an estimated 20 million cases and 2.9 million global deaths in children under five years of age.

The University of Michigan through the Max Harry Weil Institute for Critical Care Research and Innovation and Blu Biotech will collaborate in a clinical environment to discover the breath biomarkers for Sepsis which would inevitably lead to early detection.

According to the CDC:

• Anyone can get an infection, and almost any infection, including COVID-19, can lead to sepsis. In a typical year:
• At least 1.6 million adults in America develop sepsis
• At least 350,000 adults who develop sepsis die during their hospitalization or are discharged to hospice
• 1 in 3 people who dies in a hospital had sepsis during that hospitalization
• Sepsis, or the infection causing sepsis, starts before a patient goes to the hospital in nearly 87% of cases.

According to the Sepsis Alliance:

• Sepsis is the number 1 cost of hospitalization in the U.S. Costs for acute sepsis hospitalization and skilled nursing are estimated to be $62 billion annually. This is only a portion of all sepsis-related costs, since there are substantial additional costs after discharge for many.
• The average cost per hospital stay for sepsis is double the average cost per stay across all other conditions. And, sepsis is the primary cause of readmission to the hospital, costing more than $3.5 billion each year.
• Studies investigating survival and sepsis deaths have reported slightly different numbers, but it appears that on average, approximately 30% of patients diagnosed with severe sepsis do not survive. Up to 50% of survivors suffer from post-sepsis syndrome. Until a cure for sepsis is found, early detection and treatment is essential for survival and limiting disability for survivors.