Sepsis (cont.)
Why are there so many diseases with "sepsis," "septic," "septicemia," or "blood poisoning" in their name?
Unfortunately, both medical personnel and laypeople have used these terms
interchangeably and then linked them to either a particular organism (usually
bacterial) that can cause sepsis or to a site in the body in which an infection
originates that leads to sepsis as described above. For example, meningococcal
sepsis, meningococcal septicemia, septic meningitis, and meningococcal blood
poisoning can refer to the same entity; an infection of the patient by the
bacteria Neisseria meningitidis that has spread from the meninges (brain membranes) to the bloodstream, resulting in the patient having at least two of the four criteria outlined above for sepsis. Common examples of a body site used in the same way are puerperal sepsis, puerperal septicemia, puerperal or childbirth blood poisoning, and maternal septicemia postpartum. All four terms represent infection of the female reproductive system that leads to sepsis criteria for the patient. The infectious agent is not described when the body site is linked to "sepsis" or the other terms. The following is a short partial list of both organism and organ system (and organ-related) terms that are seen in both the lay and medical literature:
- MRSA sepsis: sepsis caused by methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus bacteria
- VRE sepsis: sepsis caused by vancomycin-resistant Enterococcus species of bacteria
- urosepsis: sepsis originating from a urinary tract infection
- wound sepsis: sepsis originating from an infection of a wound
- neonatal sepsis or septicemia: sepsis seen in newborns, usually in the first
four weeks after birth
- septic abortion: an abortion due to infection with sepsis in the mother
There are many more examples of linking terms to sepsis (for example, AIDS, tattoo, spider bite). Occasionally, terms like
hemorrhagic septicemia are used to describe a symptom (internal bleeding) that occurs with sepsis. The trend in medicine currently is to decrease the use of the terms septicemia and blood poisoning in favor of the terms sepsis or septic, because sepsis is defined most concisely.
Next: What are the signs or symptoms of sepsis (blood poisoning)? »
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