Health Topic

Sepsis

Sepsis is a serious illness and can lead to a life threatening condition called septic shock. Read about symptoms, treatment and risk factors for sepsis.

Reviewed Reviewed by a registered pharmacistGeneral information

Important: This page is general information, not medical advice. It does not recommend or prescribe any treatment. Always consult your doctor or pharmacist before starting, stopping or changing any medicine.

About Sepsis

Sepsis is your body's overactive and extreme response to an infection. Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency. Without quick treatment, it can lead to tissue damage, organ failure, and even death.

Sepsis happens when an infection you already have triggers a chain reaction throughout your body. Bacterial infections are the most common cause, but other types of infections can also cause it.

The infections are often in the lungs, stomach, kidneys, or bladder. It's possible for sepsis to begin with a small cut that gets infected or with an infection that develops after surgery. Sometimes, sepsis can occur in people who didn't even know that they had an infection.

Anyone with an infection could get sepsis. But certain people are more likely to develop it:

  • Adults 65 or older
  • People with chronic (long-lasting) conditions, such as diabetes, lung disease, cancer, and kidney disease
  • People with weakened immune systems
  • Pregnant women
  • Children younger than one

Sepsis can cause one or more of these symptoms:

  • Rapid breathing and heart rate
  • Shortness of breath
  • Confusion or disorientation
  • Extreme pain or discomfort
  • Fever, shivering, or feeling very cold
  • Clammy or sweaty skin

It's important to get medical care right away if you think you might have sepsis or if your infection is not getting better or is getting worse.

Severe cases of sepsis can lead to septic shock, where your blood pressure drops to a dangerous level and multiple organs can fail.

To find out if you have sepsis, your health care provider:

  • Will take your medical history, which includes asking about your symptoms
  • Will do a physical exam, which includes checking vital signs (your temperature, blood pressure, heart rate, and breathing)
  • Will likely order lab tests that check for signs of infection or organ damage
  • May order imaging tests such as an x-ray or a CT scan to find the location of the infection

Many of the signs and symptoms of sepsis can also be caused by other medical conditions. This may make sepsis hard to diagnose in its early stages.

It is very important to get treatment right away. Treatment usually includes:

  • Antibiotics.
  • Maintaining blood flow to organs. This may involve getting oxygen and intravenous (IV) fluids.
  • Treating the source of the infection.
  • If needed, medicines to increase blood pressure.

In serious cases, you might need kidney dialysis or a breathing tube. Some people need surgery to remove tissue damaged by the infection.

To prevent sepsis, you should try to prevent getting an infection:

  • Take good care of any chronic health conditions that you have
  • Get recommended vaccines
  • Practice good hygiene, such as handwashing
  • Keep cuts clean and covered until healed

It sits within Infections.

The lead U.S. institute for this subject is the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.

When to speak to someone. Reading about a topic cannot tell you whether it applies to you. Speak to a doctor or pharmacist if symptoms are severe, sudden, getting worse, or simply not going away — and seek emergency care immediately for chest pain, breathing difficulty, sudden weakness or confusion, or a serious allergic reaction.

Research on Sepsis

3,775 studies areregistered for this condition on ClinicalTrials.gov, the U.S. National Library of Medicine's public registry. A selection is below — the links go straight to the registry entry, not to a summary of ours.

What a registered study does and does not mean. Registration means a study exists and has been declared publicly. It says nothing about whether the treatment being tested works, is safe, or is available to you. Many studies find no benefit — that is what research is for. Never seek out an experimental treatment on the strength of a registry entry alone.

Research currently under way

Research already completed

Study data from ClinicalTrials.gov, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine. Retrieved 2026-07-30. Registry entries are supplied by study sponsors and investigators; ClinicalTrials.gov does not verify their scientific validity. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH.

Where to read more

Rather than paraphrase, we point you to the primary sources. Every link below is to a government health agency, a national institute or a recognised medical body — grouped by what you are trying to find out.

Start Here

Diagnosis and Tests

Statistics and Research

Clinical Trials

Medical subject headings

Clinicians and researchers index this subject under Sepsis. These are the terms to use when searching medical literature.

This page is built from the MedlinePlus health topic record for Sepsis, a service of the U.S. National Library of Medicine (NLM), National Institutes of Health. Information is from MedlinePlus.gov. PocketsInfo is not affiliated with, and is not endorsed by, the NLM or the NIH. Retrieved 30 July 2026.