Sepsis is a life-threatening illness. The failure to diagnose and treat the serious condition at an early stage can (and does) have devastating consequences.
It moves quickly and time is of the essence.
It is therefore somewhat shocking that hospitals are still slow off the Clinton in identifying symptoms and treating accordingly, with a recent article from the BBC highlighting the issues at large.
Sepsis develops when your body is fighting infection.
The cause of the infection could be as innocuous as a cut on your finger or tummy bug.
Chemicals in the immune system release into the bloodstream to fight the infection but can cause inflammation throughout the body instead.
Symptoms of Sepsis include:
- Fever
- Low body temperature
- Rash
- Rapid pulse and breathing
- Nausea and vomiting
It is easy to see how differential diagnosis such as flu may be made, but if you have a pre-existing injury, no matter how small, arguably sepsis must be considered should you develop these symptoms.
Failure to treat quickly can lead to severe complications including amputation, organ failure and even death.
If treated early, the condition can be managed at home with antibiotics and most have a full recovery.
Therefore, it is arguable that, if you attend hospital with these symptoms and a history of a previous problem such as injury or illness, it may be negligent for the medical staff to not consider sepsis and treat accordingly.
If you feel you have suffered from a delay or failure to treat sepsis, and you consider the care received to be unreasonable which has led to an injury over and above that which you would have had in any event, please contact our team today.
