Saving civilian life must be a top priority, healthcare workers must be protected, health systems and facilities need to remain functional, safe, and accessible

The European Sepsis Alliance joins the call for peace in Ukraine, echoing calls by so many organizations and individuals around the world. We encourage our members and supporters to do whatever they can to help Ukrainian civilians and the Ukrainian healthcare system. 

War always causes a humanitarian and health emergency affecting civilians. Children, women, and the elderly are the most exposed to the risks linked to the disruption of safe healthcare and access to medicines. Displacement of swathes of the population from their homes (some with injuries or with underlying health conditions), the mass movement of people, crowding, loss of sanitation and loss of access to both preventative medicine and healthcare services increases the risk of infections and resultant sepsis in an environment which might lack the capacity to treat it – people with pre-existing conditions who are most at risk from infections and sepsis will likely not get the treatments they need. Already we hear that supplies of oxygen in Ukraine’s hospitals are critically low.

 A functioning healthcare system is a basic human right that must be protected, along with the safety and security of healthcare workers and facilities.

Many organizations (see the list below) are providing active support to the Ukrainian population. We encourage you and our members to support these organizations in the same manner as you support the European Sepsis Alliance and the Global Sepsis Alliance.

Additionally, the Ukrainian Ministry of Health is inviting foreign healthcare professionals to go and work in local hospitals. More details are available here.

This new crisis comes as the Covid-19 pandemic, which has already put all healthcare systems under pressure, continues. Ukrainian hospitals, doctors, nurses, civilians, and refugees desperately need our help.

List of organizations providing support:

• International Committee of the Red Cross

• Médecins Sans Frontières

• Save the Children

• UNICEF

Today, we are thrilled to officially announce the WSC Spotlight: Novel Therapeutic and Diagnostic Approaches for COVID-19 and Sepsis, taking place live, free of charge, and completely online on April 27, 2022.

Over the course of 8 distinctive and highly relevant sessions, 39 speakers from all regions of the world will share the newest therapeutic and diagnostic approaches for COVID-19 and sepsis, covering all novel aspects of our understanding of bacterial and viral sepsis, from new methods of diagnosis and risk assessment to novel treatment modalities, and beyond.

Like our previous World Sepsis Congresses in 2016, 2018, and 2021 and WSC Spotlights in 2017 and 2020, this free online congress brings together highly ranked representatives of international and national healthcare authorities, non-governmental organizations, policymakers, patients, patient advocacy groups, clinical scientists, researchers, and pioneers in healthcare improvement.

The Australian Commission on Safety and Quality in Health Care (ACSQHC) has released a new video series to raise awareness about sepsis (embedded above).

The ‘Spotlight on Sepsis’ video series was created as part of the National Sepsis Program.

Developed in partnership with The George Institute for Global Health and the Australian Sepsis Network, the series complements the National Sepsis Awareness Campaign toolkit resources.

The videos focus on the theme of the National Sepsis Awareness Campaign: “Could it be sepsis?” and aim to raise awareness and promote greater understanding about this serious condition among clinicians and the general public.

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About Sepsis

Sepsis is the common final pathway of all acute infections. It arises when the body’s response to an infection injures its own tissues and organs. It may lead to shock, multiple organ failure, and death, especially if not recognized early and treated promptly.

GSA invites you to register for the inaugural Critical Care Infectious Diseases Network (CCIDN) Canada symposium on Life-Threatening Infections and COVID-19 Disease, that will be held on February 24 and 25, 2022. This event has been developed by the members of CCIDN who are physicians and researcher trained in both critical care and infectious diseases and microbiology.

This virtual educational event will be singularly dedicated to the dissemination of information on life-threatening infections requiring ICU care and COVID-19 disease. Join nationally and internationally recognized experts for this two day-long symposium focusing on the hot topics of the day in severe and life-threatening infectious disease threats.

On April 27, 2022, the Global Sepsis Alliance will host the next World Sepsis Congress Spotlight, titled “WSC Spotlight: Novel Therapeutic and Diagnostic Approaches for COVID-19 and Sepsis“. This congress aims to bring knowledge about sepsis to all parts of the world, easily accessible and free of charge.

Over the course of 8 distinctive and highly relevant sessions, 39 speakers from all regions of the world will share the newest therapeutic and diagnostic approaches for COVID-19 and sepsis, covering all novel aspects of our understanding of bacterial and viral sepsis, from new methods of diagnosis and risk assessment to novel treatment modalities, and beyond.

Just as with our previous World Sepsis Congresses in 2016, 2018, and 2021, and WSC Spotlights in 2017 and 2020, this free online congress brings together highly ranked representatives of international and national healthcare authorities, non-governmental organizations, policymakers, patients, patient advocacy groups, clinical scientists, researchers, and pioneers in healthcare improvement.

We will share more details on the program, speakers, and exact times in February – stay tuned.

From the whole Team here at the Global Sepsis Alliance, we’d like to wish you a great start into 2022 – much success, happiness, and health to you and your loved ones in the new year.

To hit the ground running, we have already updated all our toolkits for 2022, from the fact sheet to posters, event material, infographics, and everything in between. If you are unfamiliar with them, take a look here – most are available in multiple languages, and everything is free to download and use.

Additionally, some of our material, like our Pocket Cards or the Life After Sepsis Brochure, are available to order as professionally printed versions via our WSD Online Shop, with international shipping available.

2022 will be another landmark year for sepsis awareness worldwide, and we are working on a number of exciting new projects and initiatives – we’d recommend saving April 27 in your calendar, for example. Last but in no way least, we are incredibly thankful for your continued support, we really couldn’t do it without you.

Can you believe the year is almost over again? Feels like we have just been here...anyway, a huge thanks from our entire team for continuing to support the Global Sepsis Alliance, World Sepsis Day, and the global fight against sepsis throughout 2021 – your support means the world to us. Another year in a global pandemic, with Covid looming over everything. Nevertheless, also a successful year, not at least due to the advances in modern medicine and science. Below, we have summarized our 2021 for you, and look ahead to our plans for 2022 – the year in which we can hopefully move Covid a bit further into the back of our head.

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A Look Back on 2021

January / February / March

The year started out with the GSA supporting the John Snow Memorandum, together with many more societies and thought leaders from all over the world. We also announced the World Sepsis Congress 2021 – to take place in April 2021 – and shared Christine’s story, becoming a triple amputee after an infection from a dog bite had led to sepsis. Later in February, we were eager to hear your feedback in the 2021 Fundraising Survey. In March, the Global Sepsis Alliance joined the G20 Health & Development Partnership, an advocacy organization that aims to ensure that G20 countries coordinate their health innovation strategies to tackle the growing burden of communicable and non-communicable diseases globally, to promote the delivery of the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) with a focus on SDG 3 “health and well-being for all” – a goal with which we can very much align with.

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April

In April, all eyes focused on the 2021 World Sepsis Congress. Over the course of two days and 15 diverse and highly relevant sessions, over 90 speakers from more than 30 countries gave trenchant talks on all aspects of sepsis, from the impact of policy, the role of artificial intelligence and big data, patient safety, and long-term sequelae through to novel trial design, the latest research, and much more.

The congress was held entirely online and participation was free of charge – the talks are still available on YouTube and as a podcast on Apple Podcasts - just search for ‘World Sepsis Congress’ in your favorite podcast player. We know it’s a lot – maybe you’ll have the time to catch up on a talk or two during the holidays?

The congress was a big success – almost 20,000 people from 181 countries signed up to participate, 71% from low- and middle-income countries. The full report is available here.

Last but not least, we also shared Hailey’s sepsis story and her tough return to ‘normal’ after sepsis, post-sepsis symptoms, and PTSD.

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May / June

The month was kicked off by World Hand Hygiene Day on May 5 – clean healthcare is among the most urgent challenges identified by the United Nations to be addressed by the global community in the next 10 years and is highly relevant in meeting the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), as well as fighting against infections, sepsis, and, most prominently in the last year, COVID-19.

On May 11, we honored the institutions and individuals who received a GSA Award in 2020 with a virtual ceremony. Shortly thereafter, we opened the applications and nominations for the 2021 GSA Awards.

In June, we published the aforementioned WSC 2021 Report, sharing detailed statistics and numbers from our congress.

Jointly with ESICM and SCCM, we published a consensus paper in Intensive Care Medicine, emphasizing the importance of recognizing that patients critically ill with COVID-19 have viral sepsis, despite some differences from sepsis caused by other pathogens.

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July / August

After launching our WSD Photo Challenge 2.0 and new countdown material in early July, our friends from the Eastern Mediterranean Sepsis Alliance unveiled their new website and logo later in the month. Gearing up for World Sepsis Day, we stocked up our Online Shop, including new medical masks.

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September

September is, as the name suggests, our busiest month – and the same was true in 2021. We started with the EMSA Webinar 2021 on September 1 (recap here), moved to the 4th Annual Meeting of the European Sepsis Alliance on September 9 (recap here), at which the first ESA European Sepsis Report was published. In between, our very own Abdulelah Alhawsawi and Konrad Reinhart spoke at the Health20 Summit.

On World Sepsis Day, countless hospitals and organizations turned pink for World Sepsis Day – a truly global spectacular, once again. The 2021 WSD Event Poster summarizes the events that took place all around the world. Also on WSD, we launched our new quiz on sepsis – go ahead, test your knowledge here.

Following closely on the heels of WSD on September 13, World Patient Safety Day on September 17 once again put sepsis in the spotlight, as healthcare-acquired infections represent around 20% of sepsis cases.

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October / November / December

In October, we joined forces with our colleagues from the World Health Summit to design a session on ‘Combating Sepsis: Global and National Strategies’ – you can watch it here. Towards the end of the month, our friends and colleagues from the African Sepsis Alliance teamed up with ISF and the Rwandan Emergency Care Association to host ‘Sepsis 2021: Rethinking Sepsis in Resource-Constrained Settings: The Viewpoint from Africa’ – all talks are available here. The event was a milestone in raising awareness and sharing experiences on sepsis in Africa.

In November, we encouraged you to participate in Movember, raising awareness for men’s health, especially focused on mental health, suicide prevention, as well as prostate and testicular cancer. Later in the month, we celebrated World Prematurity Day 2021 and made the 2021 WSD Event Poster available – in fact, you can still order free printed copies via our online shop.

Lastly, our colleagues from the ESA published a study revealing the burden of post-sepsis morbidity to be higher than initially thought – 3 out of 4 sepsis survivors had new medical, cognitive, or psychological diagnoses…

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Looking Ahead to 2022

In 2022, we will put no less energy into heavily advocating for sepsis to be prioritized as the major global health threat that it is, and many of the successes of 2021 lay the foundation for our work in 2022. For this purpose, we are also planning to expand our team, in order to grasp and create as many opportunities as possible, increase our outreach, and advocate for sepsis worldwide.

We are currently hard at work on the ‘WSC Spotlight: Novel Therapeutic and Diagnostic Approaches for COVID-19 and Sepsis’, to be held in the last week of April 2022 – save the date!

You can also expect the 2022 GSA Awards, an (online-only) ceremony for the 2021 GSA Award Winners, and, as every year, we will translate more material into more languages. We are hoping to meet with some of you face to face at our WSD Supporter Meetings, and are also planning a couple of events with our Regional Sepsis Alliances.

There will also be an exciting change at the WSD HQ in early 2022 – but it’s top-secret for now.

And of course and as every year, our efforts will cumulate in World Sepsis Day on September 13 – hopefully with you and your participation. Stay safe and get into 2022 well!

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A recent cohort study published in JAMA Network Open based on data from 116 507 survivors of hospital-treated sepsis in Germany sheds light on the heavy burden of long-term effects of sepsis, the most severe complication of infections.

The study reveals that 3 out of 4 sepsis survivors had new medical, cognitive, or psychological diagnoses. Among those younger than 40, more than half are affected. The most common consequences are neuromusculoskeletal diagnosis, i.e. muscular weakness or paralysis followed by problems of the heart, lungs, and other organs. Cognitive disorders, commonly known as ‘brain fog’, lack of concentration, and memory loss are newly diagnosed in up to 20% of patients.

New diagnoses affect sepsis survivors irrespective of preexisting conditions, sepsis severity, and intensive care unit treatment, meaning that post-sepsis morbidity is also in patients who were previously healthy, have not suffered severe organ failure, and were not treated in the ICU. Direct costs for a three-year follow-up can be estimated at €6.8 billion ($7.7 billion) per year. This figure does not include the following indirect costs, like loss of employment by survivors, the need for nursing care, or the life-changing effects on family caregivers.

“These figures date from before COVID-19 and are already staggering. Post-sepsis morbidity is much more common than previously believed. If we add to this the burden that COVID-19 survivors will suffer, as many of them also underwent sepsis, we must expect a tsunami of long-term health problems for which we are not prepared.”, commented Dr. Christiane Hartog, co-author of the study and chair of the ESA Patients and Family Support Working Group.

A systematic review published last year revealed that 78% of COVID-19 patients in the ICU and 33% of COVID-19 patients in the hospital have sepsis, which is the most common cause of death [1]. “Because of the link between COVID-19 and sepsis”, continues Dr. Hartog, “ this study helps explain the scope of health issues linked to long-COVID and the magnitude of the problem that we are facing. People who survived severe infections such as COVID-19 urgently need continued professional care and support.”

The authors analyzed claims data from one of the largest German insurers, covering approximately one-fourth of hospitalized patients in Germany. Sepsis patients were identified by an internationally used coding system. Among survivors, those with pre-existing diseases or conditions were excluded. Further outcomes from the study show that 32% of survivors became dependent on permanent nursing care and 31% died in the following 12 months.

Aurica Pripa, the co-chair of the ESA Patients and Family Working Group, commented on the study: “Often, sepsis survivors and their families are left with no follow-up rehabilitation. For some, recovery can take many years, creating a huge and largely preventable burden on their families. This must be changed. We call for holistic treatment of post-sepsis sequelae in standardized sepsis management practices.”

A recent position paper by the ESA Patient and Family Support Working Group asks that the follow-up must be carried out routinely, at or after hospital discharge, must be multidisciplinary, as patients can be affected by multiple diagnoses after sepsis, and financially sustained by healthcare systems and insurers. The ESA calls for other organizations to support this call.

[1] Karakike, E., Giamarellos-Bourboulis, E. J., Kyprianou, M., Fleischmann-Struzek, C., Pletz, M. W., Netea, M. G., Reinhart, K., & Kyriazopoulou, E. (2021). Coronavirus Disease 2019 as Cause of Viral Sepsis: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Crit Care Med, 49(12), 2042-2057