Sepsis Awareness Month 2024

A five-year-old girl presented to the emergency department (ED) with symptoms of an upper respiratory tract infection. A viral swab was negative for SARS-CoV2, influenza, and respiratory syncytial virus. A throat swab was positive for group A Streptococcus. The patient returned the next day with worsening symptoms but the treating physician again did not order imaging and attributed all findings to pharyngitis. The child was sent home with a prescription for amoxicillin. On day 3 after the first ED visit, the child was brought back to the ED by ambulance with pulseless electrical activity at a heart rate of 70 bpm and oxygen saturation of 40% with no spontaneous respirations. On examination during resuscitation, there was skin mottling and petechiae. She was pronounced dead after resuscitative efforts failed. Autopsy showed bilateral pneumonia and right-sided empyema. Empyema cultures grew Streptococcus pyogenes and Klebsiella pneumoniae. The commentary discusses the importance of timely recognition and proper management of potential bacterial infections to prevent downstream morbidity and mortality from sepsis.

This case describes the failure to identify a brewing abdominal process, which over the span of hours led to fulminant sepsis with rapid clinical deterioration and eventual demise. The patient’s ascitic fluid cultures and autopsy findings confirmed bowel perforation, but this diagnosis was never explicitly considered. The commentary discusses the importance of early identification of sepsis, the role of biomarkers and risk scores in conjunction with bedside examinations to assess patients with suspected sepsis, and approaches to improve the prognosis of patients in septic shock, such as protocolized sepsis bundles.

Seeking a sustainable process to enhance their hospitals’ response to sepsis, a multidisciplinary team at WellSpan Health oversaw the development and implementation of a system that uses customized electronic health record (EHR) alert settings and a team of remote nurses to help frontline staff identify and respond to patients showing signs of sepsis. When the remote nurses, or Central Alerts Team (CAT), receive an alert, they assess the patient’s information and collaborate with the clinical care team to recommend a response.

A 71-year-old man presented to his physician with rectal bleeding and pain, which was attributed to radiation proctitis following therapy for adenocarcinoma of the prostate. He subsequently developed a potentially life-threatening complication of sepsis while awaiting follow up care for a spontaneous rectal perforation. The commentary addresses the importance of early identification and timely intervention in the event of treatment failure and the post-discharge follow-up programs to improve care coordination and communication during transitions of care.