Blood test spots child sepsis risk

A BLOOD test could save the lives of children with sepsis by predicting how likely they are to be killed by it.

Sepsis affects around 250,000 Britons a year and kills at least 52,000, causing more avoidable deaths than breast, bowel and prostate cancer combined.

Now scientists have developed a test which shows how likely the ‘silent killer’ is to cause death in a child with the condition. It could one day be applied to patients of all ages.

The blood test, which searches for five proteins released by the immune system, can group patients into those at low, medium or high risk of death.

Those in most danger can be treated faster and given more antibiotics. Those at lowest risk can avoid receiving too many antibiotics – which can cause side effects such as liver damage.

The test also provides an insight into a future drug treatment for sepsis. The proteins it detects may fuel the overreaction of the immune system which can lead to septic shock and death. An experiment in mice suggests drugs could be used to lower levels of these proteins.

US researchers, who tried out their test on 461 children with sepsis, said 97 per cent of those in the low-risk group survived, compared to 56 per cent in the high-risk group.

Dr Hector Wong, of Cincinnati Children’s Hospital, who led research published in the journal Science Translational Medicine, said: ‘Understanding the risk for a child with sepsis is fundamental to decisions about their treatment. A test like ours, which we hope could be available within two years, could give doctors objective information to judge these cases.’

The Mail launched its End the Sepsis Scandal campaign three years ago after William Mead died at 12 months old following a string of errors by NHS staff.

Sepsis develops when an infection triggers an immune response that is so violent the body attacks its own organs. The test detects five proteins produced by this response. Put simply, the more proteins, the greater the risk.