It is a serious disease in which bacteria release their harmful, toxic substances (toxin) into the blood. There is a whole-body inflammatory response to this infection. Blood poisoning can develop acutely at home or be a reaction to surgery or treatment of another disease.
People with a low resistance are more at risk of blood poisoning. These are, for example, very young children, the elderly and people with an immune disorder or large wound. Patients in an Intensive Care Unit also run a higher risk of blood poisoning because they are usually already seriously ill and because they have IVs or a catheter.
What are the symptoms?
Blood poisoning often starts with a local infection, whereby the symptoms depend on the site of the infection. Coughing, mucus and shortness of breath are all part of pneumonia. Pain when urinating and often urinating small amounts, in turn, fit with a bladder infection.
If blood poisoning occurs, this often causes symptoms such as shivering, fever, feeling unwell, nausea, vomiting and diarrhoea. In older people, this is also often accompanied by confusion.
In a more serious case, called septic shock, blood pressure can drop suddenly. This leads to a drop in blood pressure with potentially harmful effects on all organs. If this damage occurs, it is referred to as a Multi Organ Failure (MOF). Several organs can no longer perform their function properly. This has effects on urine production and therefore also on the elimination of waste products, breathing, blood clotting, the absorption of nutrients, and so on.
