Sepsis Signs and Symptoms, Causes, Treatment, and Additional Information

The body is designed to fight infections. Most of the time, the body releases chemicals when dealing with an infection to stop the infection. Sometimes these chemicals don’t have the intended consequence. It’s possible for them to instead cause inflammation throughout the entire body. This response is known as Sepsis and is incredibly life threatening.


Symptoms. Sepsis consists of three different stages and has symptoms to match. The stages are sepsis, severe sepsis and the third is septic shock. As sepsis evolves from one stage to the next, it becomes an even more serious medical emergency. Symptoms of sepsis are serious and anyone should seek immediate medical help if found. People who have a fever above 101 degrees or below 96.8 may have sepsis. Other symptoms include a very fast heart rate over 90 beats per minute and a very high breathing rate over 20 breaths per minute. The final symptom is a recent, probable or confirmed infection. When taken together, two of these symptoms suggest sepsis.