Share your story and be heard

Join our community-based movement to increase awareness of sepsis and hospital-acquired conditions as a result of sepsis misdiagnosis, and drive meaningful change.

Voices of Sepsis is dedicated to sharing the stories of sepsis survivors and those who have suffered from hospital-acquired conditions as a result of a misdiagnosis.

By sharing these stories, our intention is to ignite a community-based movement that drives legislative action in support of key patient safety measures.

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What is sepsis?

Sepsis is a life-threatening, extreme response of the body to an infection. It is caused by a series of reactions in the body to a bacterial, viral, or fungal infection. Instead of fighting the cause of the infection, the body’s immune system turns on itself, which is the beginning of sepsis.^1,2

Rapid diagnosis and treatment of sepsis is vital as it can progress to severe sepsis or septic shock that can result in multi-system organ failure, tissue damage, and even death. Approximately 30% of patients diagnosed with severe sepsis do not survive.¹

By the Numbers

1.7M

According to 2017 data, globally, an estimated 49 million cases of sepsis occur each year with ~11 million deaths (20% of all deaths) reported. An estimated 1.7 million cases of sepsis occur in the US annually with 258,000 deaths.

30%

Sepsis is a leading cause of mortality and critical illness worldwide, with hospital mortality rates of 25-30%.

Clinical studies have demonstrated a two-fold increase in mortality caused by sepsis when inappropriate antimicrobial therapy is given.

$24B

Sepsis is the number one cost of hospitalization in the U.S. — more than $24 billion each year.

Diagnosing Sepsis

Healthcare professionals diagnose sepsis through a combination of physical findings (fever, low blood pressure, increase heart rate, difficulty breathing) as well as diagnostic and laboratory tests.

A blood cultures is one of the tests that is ordered for suspected sepsis. It is an important test because of its use in:

Confirming the presence of microorganism

Identifying the
cause of the
infection

Determining the source of the infection

Providing a microorganism, determine which antibiotic is most effective in fighting the infection

Blood cultures, however, are susceptible to contamination from skin fragments and plugs that may be collected simultaneously. Nearly 40% of positive blood culture results are false positive due to these contaminates. That means physicians may not have the right information to guide their clinical decisions. Patients are then treated for sepsis even though it may be a different condition or there is a delay in optimizing treatment plans as physicians wait for the results of additional diagnostic and laboratory tests.

Often, these patients continue to receive powerful antibiotics, which can lead to acute kidney injury, antibiotic-resistant microorganisms, extended stays in the hospital and corresponding risk of contracting an additional infection while in the hospital, and even an increased risk of death.^8-14

Stories

The impact of sepsis and the misdiagnosis of sepsis are broad reaching and affect not only the patients, but also their families and their loved ones. A main impact of misdiagnosis is unnecessarily prolonged hospital stays, resulting in life-threatening hospital-acquired conditions.

Support these sepsis survivors and victims of sepsis misdiagnosis by listening to their stories.

Too many people are dying from sepsis. Tests are not always accurate.

Nancy

Knowing that there was a word for what I was feeling was extremely validating.

Emily

Take Action

Voices of Sepsis is fighting for legislative change in support of key patient safety improvements to standard-of-care. With your help, we can meaningfully impact patient safety by creating nation-wide standards for blood culture contamination and increasing sepsis awareness.

Fill out the form below to share your story with your local legislators and help drive this important patient safety initiative.