Ailment more deadly than AIDS, cancer: Doctors

Thirty-six people die every hour in India of sepsis, a disease that kills more people than cancer and AIDS put together. Yet it is one of least known diseases not just among the general public but medical professionals as well.

Sepsis is a serious medical condition caused by the body’s response to a bacterial infection and in this state the body is fighting a severe infection that has spread via the bloodstream. It can lead to complications affecting multiple organs and even cause death.

“Sepsis is a serious infection usually caused by bacteria, which can originate in many body parts, such as the lungs, intestines, urinary tract, or skin that make toxins that cause the immune system to attack the body’s own organs and tissues. If not recognised early, body’s response to infection can damage its own tissues. It is sad that though it is one of the leading killers, especially of people with compromised immunity, it is one of the least understood diseases,” said Dr PK Joshi, director of Niramaya Hospital and president of Pune chapter of Indian Society of Critical Care Medicine (ISCCM). One of the most common reasons to develop sepsis is hospital-based infections.

“People admitted to healthcare set-ups are already suffering from some infection and hence immuno-compromised. Also we see that antibiotics are rampantly used by doctors and combinations of antibiotics are used even in simple infections. There should hence be a hospital policy on use of antibiotics,” said Dr Ramesh Ranka, owner and chief orthopaedic surgeon at Ranka Hospital.

A common misconception is that sepsis is blood poisoning and usually happens due to open wounds etc. “A patient suffering from a viral infection can develop sepsis and even a cancer patient suffer from secondary infection and develop sepsis,” said Prayag Hospital director Dr Shirish Prayag.