Being out of balance is an ordeal every human dreads, but that is precisely what happens when a person suffers from Sepsis, a condition where the body cannot respond appropriately to infections.
A Senior Consultant Physician at the Department of Internal Medicine and Intensive Care Unit (ICU) at the Coptic Hospital, Nairobi, Dr. Tamer Mikhail, has advocated antibiotic initiation for the treatment of the ailment.
Mikhail said this at a recent webinar in commemoration of this year’s World Sepsis Day, he noted that early detection and antibiotic initiation are critical to reducing mortality.
The specialist physician spoke on the topic, ‘Adjuvant Treatments in Management of Sepsis’. According to the doctor, “Quick diagnosis, culture collection, and antibiotic initiation as early as the first hour are key to reduce the mortality of this ailment.
“Also, quick fluid resuscitation and other measures to improve organ perfusion are important. Following aseptic techniques during surgery can prevent sepsis”, Dr. Mikhail said.
Sepsis is a potentially life-threatening condition caused by the body’s response to an infection. The body normally releases chemicals into the bloodstream to fight infection. Sepsis occurs when the body’s response to these chemicals is out of balance, triggering changes that can damage multiple organ systems. Severe cases of sepsis can lead to septic shock, which is a medical emergency.
Organizers of the event, the Intensive and Critical Care Society of Nigeria (ICCSN), is a non- governmental organization (NGO) targeted at promoting and coordinating activities in the different fields of Critical Care Medicine by fostering research and education.
The organization gives recommendations for improving critical care in Nigeria, while Bharat Serums and Vaccines Ltd is an organization that has used its scientific resources to develop a range of biological, biotech and pharmaceutical products in the past four decades.
Mikhail, noted that “Sepsis is a life-threatening syndrome, usually caused by a bacterial infection. It is a response to the body’s immune system that results in organ dysfunction or failure. It is a serious life-threatening condition with very high mortality, despite newer treatments”.
He added that patients with sepsis would require hospitalization or intensive care unit admission if there is severe sepsis or organ dysfunction.
“Therapies are directed at the basic elements of sepsis as a syndrome of infection, host response, and organ dysfunction,” Mikhail said.
The second keynote speaker, Dr. Abdul-Wahab Omo-Ope, a Consultant Clinical Microbiologist and an Infection Prevention and Control Specialist, spoke on the subject of “Antibiotic Therapy in Septic Patients – Making the Right Choices and Monitoring”, provided thorough information regarding sepsis & antibiotic therapies to be recommended for sepsis.
A World Health Organisation report, titled, ‘Global Report on the Epidemiology and Burden of Sepsis,’ noted that approximately 20 percent of all global deaths were due to sepsis.
“Sepsis disproportionately affects vulnerable populations such as neonates, pregnant or recently pregnant women, and populations living in low and middle-income countries. Yet, our current understanding of the epidemiology of sepsis is limited by poor quality data, particularly where the burden is highest, which illustrates the urgent need for this report.
“In 2018, an estimated 15 percent of all neonatal deaths globally were due to sepsis. Studies have shown that the highest incidence of neonatal sepsis occurs in pre-term and low-birth-weight infants,” the report stated. Sent from my Samsung Galaxy smartphone.