“A global awareness of the weight that this syndrome places on our health system is necessary”

2023-09-13 17:30:11

The sepsis is a disease that occurs following an infection against which the immune response becomes uncontrolled. This inadequate inflammatory response causes tissue damage and organ failure that often results in death. At any age of life, an infection, even initially benign, can degenerate into sepsis: dental abscess, meningitis, appendicitis, Covid-19, urinary infection, etc.

Every year, nearly 50 million people worldwide are affected by sepsis, including 40% of children under 5 years old. according to a recent article published in the scientific journal The Lancet. Eleven million die from it. France is not spared, with 261,000 cases in 2019 and more than 60,000 deaths, according to another scientific article. Survivors maintain an increased risk of death and often extremely disabling consequences socially and professionally, such as amputations or cognitive disorders.

However, sepsis remains largely unknown to our fellow citizens and poorly understood by health professionals. A general public survey conducted in 2021 showed that only 7% of people questioned in France knew the term sepsis. A second survey carried out in 2022 among health professionals showed insufficient adherence to the recommendations for the management of this disease.

Vaccination and hand hygiene

The French authorities are not remaining inactive. Leaning on an expert report submitted in 2019, an action plan was launched to fight this scourge, recognized as a public health priority by the World Health Organization in 2017. However, the measures put in place are not enough. We must go further, faster to bring this severe infection out of the shadows. The number of cases continues to increase and could even double within fifty years, under the effect of the aging of the population and the development of resistance to antibiotics. As it stands, our health system is not sufficiently organized to outpace sepsis.

Too often, adult patients, but also children and newborns, are treated at the height of the infection, in the intensive care unit, when warning signs and early diagnosis could have alerted them in advance. These delays in support have serious consequences. Each hour that passes without appropriate treatment drastically reduces the chances of survival, as the deterioration of vital functions can be drastic.

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