Swedish researchers are raising the alarm over sepsis, a “largely” underdiagnosed disease as common as cancer and as deadly as heart attack.
In the JAMA Network Open of August 29, Swedish researchers warn about “A considerable burden for public health” what does an illness represent “as common as cancer, with similar long-term negative consequences, and as deadly as acute myocardial infarction” according to Adam Linder, Principal Investigator and Associate Professor in the Department of Infectious Medicine at Lund University.
20% of patients die within 3 months
Together with colleagues at Skåne University Hospital, they found that more than 4% of hospitalizations recorded in this region of southern Sweden concerned sepsis patients and 20% died within 3 months following. To reach these conclusions, they examined the medical records of 295,531 patients hospitalized in 2019 and 2020. “Among survivors of sepsis (another name for sepsis, editor’s note), three quarters experience long term complications such as heart attack, of the kidney problems and cognitive difficulties” reports Adam Linder. During the Covid-19 pandemic, the incidence has increased up to 6% but, even without Covid-19, researchers believe that sepsis should be considered an epidemic.
Sepsis not recorded enough at death
However, for this, you need figures and they are difficult to obtain: “Doctors classify patients using diagnostic codes. Since sepsis is a secondary diagnosis resulting from an infection, it is significantly underdiagnosed, because the primary disease often dictates the diagnostic code. This makes it difficult to find a way to accurately determine the number of sepsis cases.“, explains Lisa Mellhammar, sepsis researcher at Lund University and deputy chief physician at Skåne University Hospital. The researchers’ aim is touse their publication to influence the European Union to establish a common sepsis surveillance system.
The team is in contact with authorities and researchers from around thirty European countries to obtain funding and continue research on a larger scale. “Although sepsis care has improved in recent years, we need to improve our diagnostic methods For identify patients earlier and develop alternative treatment methods beyond antibioticsto avoid the resistance. It is crucial to raise public awareness and decision-makers about sepsis so that resources are allocated appropriately”, concludes Adam Linder.