HOSPITALS & HEALTHCARE
THE SILENTKILLER
Five people in the UK die every hour as a result of sepsis. Liam Mynes, from Tork manufacturer Essity, looks at this growing threat to our health and discusses the role that hand hygiene can play in helping to prevent it.
Sepsis claims around 11 million lives per year – which is more deaths than from bowel, breast and prostate cancer combined.
Yet progress in tackling the condition remains frustratingly slow. According to the medical publication The Lancet, only 16 countries worldwide are currently prioritising sepsis in their national healthcare policies.
Most cases arise as a result of a bacterial infections, though fungal and viral infections - such as Covid-19 or influenza – can also trigger it. The majority of people who develop the condition have at least one underlying medical issue such as chronic lung disease or a weakened immune system.
Nicknamed the ‘silent killer’, sepsis is therefore a particular issue in hospitals where many of the patients are elderly and frail or have compromised immune systems.
Scientists have been working tirelessly over the past few years to develop new ways of diagnosing the condition. Machine-learning techniques are being applied to create surveillance algorithms for sepsis and diagnostic tools, for example.
In September 2018 the NHS launched a Suspicion of Sepsis Dashboard tool to provide staff with an overall picture of hospital admissions. This indicated how far sepsis interventions were improving patient outcomes while also helping staff to assess the scale of the problem at local, regional and national level.
In 2020, researchers at the Laboratory of Bionanophotonic Systems at EPFL's School of
26 | TOMORROW’S FM
Engineering in Switzerland developed an optical biosensor designed to reduce the amount of time required for diagnosing sepsis from a number of days to just a few minutes. The portable device works by rapidly detecting sepsis biomarkers in a patient's bloodstream.
But while many new diagnostic and treatment techniques are being trialled, most of them are still at the preclinical phase.
One major problem with sepsis is that it is notoriously hard to diagnose. Typical symptoms include fever, chills, nausea, a rapid pulse rate and diarrhoea - all of which can also be signs of other, less serious ailments. It is all too easy for sufferers to slip through the net and remain untreated until it is too late.
However, there is a growing awareness of the condition as a medical emergency and the UK Sepsis Trust is making great strides to ensure that the spotlight remains firmly on its causes and symptoms.
But the fact that sepsis only takes hold in response to an infection means it is sometimes avoidable. Any break in the skin could allow bacteria to enter and cause an infection. According to the Sepsis Alliance, many infections can be prevented with the aid of good wound care and by practising consistent and thorough hand hygiene.
All wounds therefore need to be constantly monitored by healthcare staff and cleaned thoroughly between dressing changes. And high standards of hand hygiene are of paramount importance.
According to the World Health Organization, hand hygiene is thought to be able to cut the number of healthcare-
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