Sepsis is the body’s extreme response to an infection. The immune system sets off a chain reaction throughout the body, harming organs and tissues. It can spread rapidly and cause extensive and irreversible damage, including death.
Sepsis is particularly dangerous for children because their symptoms are more difficult to detect and because many patients, like premature babies and infants, have weaker immune systems.
How does sepsis impact children?
Sepsis is a leading cause of death in hospitalized children. Every year, sepsis:
- Kills 7,000 children in the U.S. — more than cancer.
- Hospitalizes 72,000+ children.
- Costs $7.3 billion.
- Contributes to 20% of global deaths, including 3 million children.
Survivors often suffer lifelong health complications. Around a third experience some disability, such as amputation, hearing loss, organ dysfunction, and cognitive impairment.
Treating a child with sepsis costs 12 times the average of all other pediatric hospitalizations, ranking among the top three most costly conditions in U.S. children's hospitals.
Why is sepsis so dangerous?
Sepsis can affect anyone, anywhere, even outside a hospital. It can occur after almost any kind of infection — even one resulting from a scrape or a bug bite — and there is no way to predict if an infection will turn into sepsis. Because it escalates quickly, the window for diagnosis and effective intervention in children is very short. Yet it’s difficult for health care teams to recognize sepsis in children for many reasons:
- The symptoms, like fever or disorientation, mimic many other common illnesses.
- Few pediatric patients present with the same symptoms.
- No test diagnoses sepsis quickly and with certainty.
- Approaches to identifying and treating sepsis vary.
The role of children’s hospitals in sepsis
Almost 90% of pediatric sepsis hospitalizations occur in general hospital settings, yet most pediatric sepsis research occurs at children's hospitals. The specialized expertise and evidence-based practices at these dedicated pediatric centers can help general and community hospitals improve outcomes for children with sepsis. By spreading strategies and tools to improve sepsis care, children’s hospitals improve outcomes for all children.
One way Children’s Hospital Association and its member hospitals are sharing knowledge is through the publication of a sepsis change package that general care and rural hospitals can use. The result of an eight-year collaborative involving 66 children’s hospitals and more than 2,000 multidisciplinary experts, this improvement toolkit equips care teams in emergency departments and inpatient settings with practical resources and evidence-based strategies to reduce pediatric deaths from sepsis.
