![\"\"](\"\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/ben-tang_1.jpg\")
Sepsis is a term used to describe a severe reaction to an infection. When the immune system fails to control a bacteria or virus, it can go into \u2018overdrive\u2019 and attack the body, including major organs such as the kidney, lungs and heart.<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Tang said, \u201cThe prognosis for sepsis is, unfortunately, extremely poor, and the rate of fatality is high \u2013 somewhere between 20 and 40 per cent.\u201d<\/p>\n
It can affect people of all ages, however, older patients, and those with compromised immune systems such as people receiving chemotherapy are more likely to die from the condition.<\/p>\n
As an intensive care specialist, Associate Professor Tang sees many patients affected by sepsis.
\n\u201cIt\u2019s much more common than one might realise \u2013 approximately 27 to 30 million people develop sepsis every year,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s easy for doctors to recognise the signs of infection, but it\u2019s much harder to recognise when it progresses from an infection to sepsis. The classic symptoms of sepsis \u2013 fever, low blood pressure, a rapid heartbeat, and shallow breathing \u2013 are also present in other illnesses. This overlap can cause diagnostic uncertainty, and in some cases, can lead to a delay in appropriate treatment.\u201d<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Tang and his research group at The Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR) are hoping to uncover one of the biggest mysteries about sepsis \u2013 why it occurs.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are investigating why simple, uncomplicated infections \u2018break through\u2019 the immune system and progress to highly lethal sepsis. This question is critical, as we need to understand why sepsis occurs in order to prevent it.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe hope to develop new therapeutic targets and, hopefully, new or better therapies to reduce global mortality rates from sepsis.\u201d<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Tang\u2019s team are also working on a potential test for sepsis. WIMR researchers are investigating biomarkers that could predict the likelihood of sepsis in the hope that, one day, a simple blood test for sepsis could be available.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere\u2019s no way of knowing which patients will develop sepsis,\u201d Associate Professor Tang said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we are able to develop a predictive test, clinicians will be able to intervene much faster, preventing complications of sepsis, and improving clinical care for sepsis patients.\u201d<\/p>\n
For World Sepsis Day, Associate Professor Tang\u2019s take-home message is that the condition needs to be taken seriously.<\/figure>\n
\u201cSepsis can kill. It\u2019s important that people recognise the symptoms of sepsis, and understand how dangerous it can be.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s clear that further research into sepsis is needed to tackle this global health threat.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad that I\u2019m contributing to that effort, both in my work as a clinician, and through research with my dedicated team.\u201d<\/p>\n
Associate Professor Benjamin Tang is affiliated with The Westmead Institute for Medical Research (WIMR), The University of Sydney and Nepean Hospital.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Predictive test\u2019s potential for improving sepsis outcomes. Our understanding of sepsis is limited, yet sepsis is one of the most common conditions in patients admitted to intensive care. Globally, there is a death from sepsis every three and a half seconds. Today is World Sepsis Day (13 September 2019), an opportunity for people to raise […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":2978,"parent":0,"menu_order":0,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"default","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"default","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"set","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}}},"categories":[19],"class_list":["post-2977","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cat-news"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/2977","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2978"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2977"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/wimr.org.au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2977"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}