Revolutionary treatment could save thousands of lives, and may soon be introduced in the NHS
- Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by your own body’s immune system
- It occurs when your body overreacts to any infection, even to a small cut or bite
- The new test has the potential to save hundreds of thousands in emergency care
Source: dailymail.co.uk, 30 January 2017 – By Adrian Monti for the Daily Mail
A blood test that can detect sepsis in five minutes could save thousands of lives.
The revolutionary test has just been approved in Europe and could be used in NHS hospitals next year to prevent deaths. Sepsis is a life-threatening condition that occurs when the body’s immune system over-reacts to an infection and starts attacking its own tissues and organs. This can be triggered by anything from cuts and bites to urinary or chest infections. About 150,000 people develop sepsis in the UK every year, with 44,000 deaths.Many deaths could be avoided with greater awareness of symptoms and faster treatment.
A blood test that can detect sepsis in five minutes could save thousands of lives. It has just been approved in Europe and could be used in NHS hospitals next year to prevent deaths The Daily Mail’s End The Sepsis Scandal campaign has repeatedly called for a radical improvement in how the NHS tackles the condition. Sepsis is treatable with intravenous antibiotics and fluids, but these must be given very early on. If not treated promptly, it can lead to tissue damage and major organ failure. Even if a patient survives, they can suffer brain damage or loss of limbs.
Diagnosis is currently based on an assessment of clinical signs such as a high temperature, abnormal heart and breathing rates. The most reliable way to confirm diagnosis is to send a blood sample to a laboratory, where it is cultured and tested for a number of proteins thought to be affected by infection. But this is not sufficiently sensitive or specific and results can take up to three days. This is why The UK Sepsis Trust advises that, if sepsis is suspected, antibiotic treatment should begin within an hour of diagnosis, even before blood tests are taken.
However, a new fast-track test could help with diagnosis. The breakthrough for the technology came in 2012 when Swiss researchers found that a protein called pancreatic stone protein (PSP) in the blood is only raised in patients with sepsis. We all have some of this protein in our blood, but studies have shown that someone with sepsis has dramatically higher levels. The UK Sepsis Trust advises that, if sepsis is suspected, antibiotic treatment should begin within an hour of diagnosis, even before blood tests are taken
Scientists have developed a test for it: the abioSCOPE is roughly the size of a domestic coffee machine and can be used by patients’ bedsides in A&E and intensive care units.
THE FIVE WARNING SIGNS
If a child or adult who has had any infection — even a mild cold — develops one or more of the following symptoms, call 999 immediately and say you think they have sepsis:
- Abnormally cold to touch.
- Breathing rapidly or struggling for breath.
- Very lethargic or difficult to rouse.
- No urine (or wet nappy) for over 12 hours.
- Skin mottled, blueish or extremely pale.
If sepsis is suspected by doctors, antibiotic treatment must begin as soon as possible — ideally within an hour of diagnosis — even before blood tests have been carried out. To carry out the test, a single drop of blood is taken from a patient’s finger and mixed with a chemical that helps the abioSCOPE work. The sample is then put in the abioSCOPE machine, which analyses the blood. The blood interacts with sensors that detect PSP levels. Test results are displayed on a screen and can be transferred wirelessly to hospital records. This entire process takes only five minutes.
Commenting on the new test, Dr Ron Daniels, a consultant in critical care and chief executive of The UK Sepsis Trust, says: ‘Any test that can help us identify sepsis earlier is likely to help save lives, especially if it can help differentiate between people with sepsis and those with symptoms of infection from other causes.
‘This new test for some patients we’re unsure about might work well as part of the jigsaw in deciding whether or not to start antibiotics.
‘It will not provide the answer alone. However, it is a step forward.