SOMETHING AS TRIVIAL AS A MINOR CUT OR SORE THROAT, or as common as a surgery wound, chest infection, stomach bug or urinary tract infection (UTI) can develop into life-threatening sepsis – and it’s a growing problem in the UK.
‘Sepsis isn’t one disease, but the result of your body’s immune system going into overdrive in response to an infection or injury,’ says Dr Ron Daniels, a consultant in critical care at Good Hope Hospital NHS Trust and chief executive of The UK Sepsis Trust. ‘Normally our immune system fights off infection, but sometimes it starts attacking the body’s own tissues and organs, resulting in organ failure and death.’