Researchers are hopeful they have discovered a biomarker or biological footprint for sepsis that could form the basis of a rapid bedside blood test that returns results within 2 hours instead of the 2 days required by current diagnostics. The team, led by Kings College London in the UK, reports the discovery in the latest online issue of the journal PLOS ONE. Sepsis, sometimes referred to as blood poisoining, is a potentially fatal condition where the bodys immune system overreacts to an infection, which may result in septic shock. Essential organs are then disrupted, accompanied by a dangerous drop in blood pressure. In the UK, sepsis costs the NHS over £2 billion and kills more than 37,000 people a year, which is more than breast and bowel cancer combined. Sepsis is the leading cause of death in US hospitals, according to research that shows it affects around 750,000 patients and kills over 250,000 Americans a year. medicalnewstoday/articles/267544.php
Posted on: Sun, 20 Oct 2013 22:19:37 +0000
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