Sepsis can turn hospital deadly

Sepsis can turn hospital deadly

In Colorado, 12,000 people expected to contract it this year
Sepsis mortality rate lower than average at Mercy

Mercy Regional Medical Center performs better than the state average when treating sepsis patients.
Across Colorado hospitals, the sepsis-related mortality rate averages 21 percent.
In 2013, 14 of 111 patients with severe sepsis at Mercy died, a mortality rate of 12.6 percent. That year, Mercy admitted a total of 5,100 patients.
So far in 2014, 9 of 93 sepsis patients at Mercy have died, a 9.7 percent mortality rate.
“There are a number of possible causes of sepsis infection, including health care-associated infections from surgery and invasive devices (urinary catheters, central venous catheters and other invasive devices),” said Guy Walton, Mercy’s infection preventionist, in an email.
“But we also have many people with a sepsis diagnosis whose origin is outside of the hospitals,” he said. “The cause can range from an untreated urinary tract infections to a severely immunocompromised patient with an otherwise minor illness or injury.”
Early recognition of the infection and prevention are the keys to decreasing mortality, Walton said. Hand-washing is critical for patients and health-care providers.
The hospital tracks how long central lines and catheters are in place and evaluates whether continued use is necessary, he said.
“Infection prevention is reviewed with patients during a pre-op visit, during hospitalization and as part of the discharge instructions,” he said.
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