[**] Defining Sepsis

"Severe sepsis is a modern-day pestilence, a leading cause of death worldwide. In the United States alone it kills 215,000 annually, making it the leading cause of death, after cardiovascular disease and cancer. More people die every day from sepsis (589 deaths per day) than from acute heart attack. Typical conditions that predispose patients to develop severe sepsis include cancer, multiple traumas from a motor vehicle accident, and pneumonia or other infections. Severe sepsis can even develop spontaneously in previously healthy patients, especially at the extremes of life – the very young or the elderly."

 

Kevin J. Tracey, MD
Fatal Sequence; The Killer Within