Canadians aim to reduce sepsis deaths

OTTAWA, Dec. 14 (UPI) -- Canadian mortality rates for sepsis -- blood poisoning -- patients are three times as high as for heart attack patients, health officials say.

Indra Pulcins of the Canadian Institute for Health Information in Ottawa says more than 30 percent of the 30,500 patients hospitalized with sepsis die, compared to 18 percent of about 30,000 stroke patients and 9.1 percent of 49,000 heart attack patients. Almost one-quarter of sepsis patients are diagnosed with sepsis after being admitted to hospitals, Pulcins says.

"While hospitals will never bring mortality rates to zero, many hospitals have made reducing their mortality rates a priority," Pulcins says in a statement. "Thanks to concerted efforts across the country to improve quality of care and patient safety, hospital standardized mortality ratios appear to be decreasing overall in Canada."

Sepsis -- a condition resulting from the body's response to severe infection by bacteria, fungi or a virus that can result in tissue damage, organ failure or death -- may develop from minor infections such as flu or urinary tract infection.

However, it is more likely in those with serious wounds, very weak immune systems or open or exposed areas from catheters. Various factors, such as early recognition and treatment and prevention of hospital-acquired infections, can reduce deaths from sepsis, Pulcins says.