Sepsis now bigger killer than cancer worldwide, figures show

SEPSIS is now a bigger killer around the world than cancer, a major study has found.

Researchers warned 11million people died from the condition globally in 2017 – more than double the 5.3million estimated for 2016.

It means one in every five deaths is caused by sepsis, outstripping cancer, which is thought to cause 9.6million fatalities a year.

The findings, the result of a huge international study published in the Lancet medical journal, also showed there were 48.9million sepsis cases around the world in 2017, twice the previous estimate of 19.4million.

But while the authors said they were alarmed to see rates so high, their research shows cases of sepsis and deaths have been falling overall over the past 30 years.

The researchers estimated there were 60.2million sepsis patients in 1990, meaning it dropped by a fifth in three decades thanks to better medical treatment.

The study, led by researchers at the University of Pittsburgh and University of Washington, looked at hospital records and data from across the world.

They wrote: ‘We have produced global sepsis estimates that are more than double previous calculations, with 11million sepsis deaths and 48.9million incident sepsis cases in 2017.

‘We have shown a global trend of decreasing sepsis burden but, importantly, substantial differences between regions remain.

‘These differences by location are alarming and deserve urgent attention from the global health, research, and policy communities.’

Sepsis, known as the ‘silent killer’, develops when an infection such as blood poisoning sparks a violent immune response in which the body attacks its own organs.

The condition is notoriously difficult to diagnose until it has engulfed the body. If it is caught early, antibiotics can control the infection. But if not, there is little doctors can do to control its spread. Awareness of it is poor, meaning it is often mistaken for more mild conditions.

In Ireland, mortality rates from sepsis on the rise again after falling for almost a decade, according to latest figures. The HSE’s 2018 Sepsis Report shows an increase in the mortality rate, from 17.6% in 2017 to 19.4% in 2018.

Last year, the HSE won an international award after showing it had reduced the death rate from the condition by five percentage points. However, the 2018 report shows the number of cases detected in our health system fell to 14,639 – a decrease of 11.7%.

‘Deserves urgent attention’