Strategies to Reduce Mortality from Bacterial Sepsis in Adults in Developing Countries

Abstract

epsis is a progressive injurious process resulting from a systemic inflammatory response to infection [1]. In developed countries, sepsis is an important cause of mortality: in the United States alone, up to 750,000 people annually suffer from severe sepsis-mostly bacterial in aetiology-of whom 29% may die Unfortunately, data on bacterial sepsis in developing countries are notably lacking, particularly in adults. Estimates of the burden of lower respiratory tract infections, meningitis, and "other infections", of which a significant proportion are associated with severe sepsis, show that the majority of deaths and disability-adjusted life years lost occur in low-income countries (Figure Additionally, severe sepsis is likely to complicate a varying proportion of cases of malaria, HIV/ AIDS, diabetes, maternal conditions, and cancer deaths globally.