Treatment of blood poisoning | Blood poisoning

Treatment of blood poisoning

The treatment of blood poisoning is done with antibiotics, i.e. drugs that are supposed to work against bacteria. There are many different bacteria and not every antibiotic is effective against all bacteria. For this reason, a blood sample, the so-called blood culture, is usually taken from a patient with blood poisoning before starting drug therapy.

This blood culture is then used in the laboratory to search for pathogens. This usually takes a few days. However, since antibiotic treatment of sepsis should be started immediately after the diagnosis is made, a drug that can fight many bacteria at once is usually used first.

Once the blood culture results are available, the antibiotic therapy can be adjusted. Depending on the severity of the blood poisoning, other drugs are used. For example, those that stabilize the blood pressure. Antibiotics play an important role in the treatment of sepsis and should be used immediately after diagnosis. How long antibiotic treatment is necessary depends on the type and severity of the infection.

Duration of blood poisoning

The duration of blood poisoning cannot be estimated in a general way. It depends to a large extent on when therapy is initiated, how pronounced the infection is, whether complications occur, how well the treatment responds and the general condition of the person affected. In some patients, antibiotic treatment for 7-10 days is sufficient, then the infection has subsided and the blood poisoning has been treated. However, there are also cases of complications that require intensive medical treatment and can last for months.

Course of blood poisoning

The course of a blood poisoning depends on the extent of the disease and the general condition of the patient. The course of the disease is also significantly influenced by how quickly treatment is initiated. If a drug treatment with antibiotics is not initiated in time or if the immune system of the affected person is already significantly limited before the blood poisoning, a blood poisoning can be fatal. On the list of the most frequent causes of death, blood poisoning is in third place. However, with timely and sufficient treatment, sepsis can go well without complications and those affected do not retain any deficit.

Risk factors (predisposition)

People whose immune system is reduced are particularly at risk of developing blood poisoning (sepsis). These include diabetics (diabetes mellitus), patients suffering from tumours or liver and kidney diseases. Persons whose immune system is weakened as a result of AIDS are also at risk.

A weakened immune system can also be the result of a therapy with suppression of the immune system (immunosuppressive therapy). This is the case with transplants, for example. Patients after trauma or operations also have an increased risk of developing blood poisoning. Even from initially seemingly harmless inflammations such as those of the respiratory tract, the gastrointestinal tract or the urinary tract can develop into blood poisoning.