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‘1 in 4 ICU patients gets sepsis, 1 in 2 dies’-Sumitra Deb Roy, TNN | Sep 12, 2012,
MUMBAI: A nationwide study found a prevalence of sepsis within intensive care units of hospitals: one out of four patients admitted in ICUs contracted the ailment in hospitals' emergency departments. Almost one out of two patients with sepsis died. The reasons for the rising incidence could be poor hospital hygiene, abuse of antibiotics or rampant self-medication among people.

Sepsis can lead to multi-organ failure and is globally a prime cause of death by infection. The study — Indian Intensive Care Case Mix and Practice Patterns (INDICAPS) — is based on a sample size of 4,209 patients, including 171 children, admitted to 124 ICUs across 17 states. Preliminary findings showed how 26% of the patients in ICUs contracted sepsis. Mortality in patients with sepsis was 42.2% as opposed to 17.8% in those who did not get it.

The study also busted the myth that patients undergoing surgeries are more prone than others to sepsis. For, 859 or 27.6% of the patients who died of sepsis were not operated upon and were in hospital for non-surgical treatment. The percentage of deaths in surgical cases was around 14.4%. Common sites of infection in patients that resulted in sepsis included bedsores, intravenous lines, surgical wounds and surgical drains.
Council member of World Federation of Society of Intensive & Critical Care Medicine Dr Pravin Amin said, "Early diagnosis hold the key and an area of worry is hospital acquired infection."

Dr Farhad Kapadia of Mumbai's Hinduja Hospital said, "Hand hygiene in ICU can help reducing hospital acquired infection to a great extent."

Around 25.5% of sepsis patients were admitted to ICUs from the emergency department, 18.5% from home and 36% from ward of the same hospital.

Principal investigator Dr J V Divatia, head of anaesthesia, critical care and pain department at the Tata Memorial Hospital, said, "Simply put, a person's chances of succumbing to his or her ailment gets multiplied because of sepsis."

This study and several other global observations have pointed to the rise in cases and deaths caused by sepsis. "An ageing population clubbed with medical advancements encouraging doctors to do riskier procedures and long hospital stays could be some of the causes contributing to the rise," he said.

There is a growing clamour to involve sepsis survivors in awareness and sensitization programmes. Jharna Narang (38) is one such survivor. She got four bullet injuries during the 26/11 terror attacks. Barring a slight limp, Narang gives away few traces of battling for life for over two months in the Bombay Hospital ICU and another six months in the wards. "I came to only in December, a full month after the incident," she said.While Narang was lucky to survive sepsis, 40% of those who get the ailment die of it.
The Times of India
http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/india/1-in-4-ICU-patients-gets-sepsis-1-in-2-dies/articleshow/16360235.cms