One September morning in 1928, Dr. Alexander Fleming returned to his lab after a family holiday to find colonies of mold invading his meticulously prepared Petri dishes. He had been studying the properties of staphylococci, a type of bacteria responsible for skin infections. The mold — specifically Penicillium — had killed all the bacteria on the dish surrounding it. His discovery led to the first antibiotic and humanity’s first tool to combat sepsis.
You may not have heard the word “sepsis” before, but you almost certainly know someone who has had it. Sepsis is the body’s dysfunctional reaction to a foreign invader — be that a staph infection, the flu, or COVID. What starts as the immune system’s attempt to fight the infection spirals out of control and leads to severe organ dysfunction. The end result may be confusion, kidney or liver failure, or shock, a life-threatening condition in which the body fails to maintain a safe blood pressure. If you have ever been hospitalized for an infection you likely had some form of sepsis.
Most people recognize classic signs of a heart attack or stroke and know to seek help, but what about sepsis? It doesn’t cause crushing chest pain or facial droop, but can make a person feel “not quite right.” Maybe you had a little bit of a cough or a urinary tract infection, or you cut your foot at the beach. Maybe you didn’t realize your loved one was sick at all, but they just seem more tired and a little bit confused. The signs and symptoms are subtle and can be extremely difficult to recognize. If it isn’t identified and treated early enough, the consequences can be dire.