Sepsis is present in many hospitalisations that culminate in death. In 2015, 23,135 people in the UK died from sepsis, where sepsis was an underlying or contributory cause of death.
NHS England: Sepsis
Opens in new window The true contribution of sepsis to these deaths is unknown. Most underlying causes of death in people with sepsis are thought to relate to severe chronic comorbidities and frailty.[5]Singer M, Inada-Kim M, Shankar-Hari M. Sepsis hysteria: excess hype and unrealistic expectations. Lancet. 2019 Oct 26;394(10208):1513-4.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31657730?tool=bestpractice.com
[7]Rhee C, Jones TM, Hamad Y, et al. Prevalence, underlying causes, and preventability of sepsis-associated mortality in us acute care hospitals. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 Feb 1;2(2):e187571.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6484603
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30768188?tool=bestpractice.com
[8]Kopczynska M, Sharif B, Cleaver S, et al. Sepsis-related deaths in the at-risk population on the wards: attributable fraction of mortality in a large point-prevalence study. BMC Res Notes. 2018 Oct 11;11(1):720.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6182791
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/30309393?tool=bestpractice.com
Multi-organ compromise is common in advanced sepsis with variable residual morbidity.[203]Russell JA. Management of sepsis. N Engl J Med. 2006 Oct 19;355(16):1699-713.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/17050894?tool=bestpractice.com
[204]American College of Chest Physicians; Society of Critical Care Medicine. Consensus conference: definitions for sepsis and organ failure and guidelines for the use of innovative therapies in sepsis. Crit Care Med. 1992 Jun;20(6):864-74.
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/1597042?tool=bestpractice.com
In a cohort study of 94,748 adult sepsis survivors, age, male sex, one or more severe comorbidities, pre-hospitalisation dependency, non-surgical status, acute severity of illness, site of infection, and organ dysfunction were independently associated with long-term mortality.[205]Shankar-Hari M, Harrison DA, Ferrando-Vivas P, et al. Risk factors at index hospitalization associated with longer-term mortality in adult sepsis survivors. JAMA Netw Open. 2019 May 3;2(5):e194900.
https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6547123
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31150081?tool=bestpractice.com