September Is Sepsis Awareness Month

Posted on by Christine Valle

Verigene diagnostics help doctors respond quickly to life-threatening condition

You may associate September with Labor Day and No. 2 pencils, but it’s also Sepsis Awareness Month. Sepsis occurs when a body’s response to infection triggers a massive inflammatory reaction that can rapidly become life-threatening. Sepsis is commonly caused by bacterial or viral infections, but can also be caused by parasites or fungus.

Sepsis Awareness Month

Consider these facts:1

  • Sepsis is the leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals. It’s also the number one hospitalization cost, estimated at $20 billion annually.
  • Affecting 26 million people globally, sepsis is responsible for more infant and childhood deaths each year than any other cause.
  • As many as 80% of sepsis deaths could be prevented with rapid diagnosis and treatment.

Too many people are unfamiliar with sepsis. Only 55% of adults in the U.S. have ever heard of sepsis, even though it kills more Americans each year than breast cancer, lung cancer, and prostate cancer combined.1,2

September 13th is World Sepsis Day

We encourage you to learn more about sepsis (such as how to spot the symptoms), or to get involved with activities as simple as posting to social media. For more about the personal impact of sepsis, view this video released by the Sepsis Alliance.

Now that Nanosphere is part of the Luminex family, sepsis is one of the disease states addressed by our portfolio of diagnostic tests. We know that rapid diagnosis is essential to beating sepsis, and we’re proud that our Verigene® Gram-Positive (BC-GP) and Gram-Negative (BC-GN) Blood Culture Tests are being used for this purpose in many of the top adult and pediatric hospitals in the U.S. Peer-reviewed publications have demonstrated that these tests improve clinical outcomes and reduce mortality from sepsis, save money for hospitals and patients, and enhance infection control efforts to better combat the spread of antibiotic resistance.

Recommended Verigene Publications:

  1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4592242/pdf/pone.0139728.pdf
  2. http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/25809178
  3. http://www.archivesofpathology.org/doi/pdf/10.5858/arpa.2015-0119-OA

Learn about Verigene® Bloodstream Infection Tests

References:

  1. Frequently Asked Questions About Sepsis and Sepsis Alliance. Sepsis Alliance (Internet) Cited August 30, 2016.
  2. 1. Sepsis Clinical Fact Sheet. Sepsis Alliance (Internet) Cited August 30, 2016. Available from: http://www.sepsis.org/downloads/Sepsis_Clinical_Fact_Sheet.pdf