What does sepsis mean?
Sepsis is a medical emergency caused when the body responds abnormally to an infection. Instead of a straightforward local infection, the infection provokes a widespread inflammatory response that can impair the function of organs such as the kidneys, lungs, heart, and brain. The condition may progress to septic shock, in which blood pressure falls dangerously and the circulatory system fails. Sepsis is treated urgently, commonly with intravenous antibiotics, fluids, and support for affected organs. The word is also sometimes confused with infection itself or with septicaemia, but modern usage reserves sepsis for the serious systemic illness that can result when the body's response to infection becomes dysregulated.
nounSepsis is a life-threatening condition in which the body has an abnormal, dysregulated response to an infection, leading to damage or dysfunction of organs and tissues. It is a medical emergency requiring immediate treatment.
- A potentially life-threatening medical condition caused by the body's dysregulated response to infection, resulting in organ dysfunction or failure.
"The patient developed sepsis after a severe bacterial infection."
"Early treatment of the infection helped prevent sepsis."
"Sepsis is treated with intravenous antibiotics, fluids, and other supportive care in an intensive-care setting."
Rare in modern medical usage; sepsis is normally singular or used without an article in a fixed clinical description, as in “the patient has sepsis.”
"Cases of severe sepsis are reported when the condition causes organ dysfunction."
Sepsis is not simply a severe infection; it is the body's dangerous, dysregulated response to one, and it can develop rapidly even when the original infection seems contained.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does sepsis come from?
The word comes from Greek sēpsis, meaning a process of putrefaction or decay, related to the verb sepein, “to rot.” It entered English through medical usage and initially referred to putrefaction or a septic condition. Its modern clinical sense developed in the early 20th century as medicine began to distinguish the bodily response to infection from infection alone.
Related word forms
How sepsis is actually used
In modern medical usage, sepsis specifically denotes a life-threatening organ dysfunction syndrome associated with infection; it should not be used simply as a synonym for infection or blood poisoning. The term is used in British and US medical contexts.
Easily confused with sepsis
An infection is the invasion and multiplication of pathogens in the body, whereas sepsis is the body's severe, dysregulated response to infection that can cause organ dysfunction.
Septicaemia is a term especially associated with infection of the bloodstream, while sepsis refers more broadly to the potentially life-threatening systemic response to infection.