Sepsis: why this deadly condition is so hard to diagnose
Last September, Mackinlay said he’d begun feeling unwell – but didn’t think anything of his symptoms, especially after testing negative for COVID.
- Last September, Mackinlay said he’d begun feeling unwell – but didn’t think anything of his symptoms, especially after testing negative for COVID.
- But his condition quickly worsened throughout the night.
- When Mackinlay was finally admitted to hospital the following day, his entire body had turned blue.
- Sepsis is a severe condition that arises when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs.
Severe condition
- There are numerous reasons why sepsis is such a dangerous condition.
- Yet these subtle signs can turn severe within hours because of how rapidly sepsis progresses.
- And, because of sepsis’s complex nature, it lacks a biological signature (or biomarker) that can reliably be used to diagnose the condition.
- But these signs don’t always clearly indicate the presence of the condition – at least initially.