Sepsis costs 10,000 lives every year, Ilona barely survived

This is the deadliest condition in the ICU. 10,000 people die from it every year which is more than all the deaths from traffic, breast cancer and prostate cancer combined. We are talking about sepsis, the body’s immune response to infection. Doctors and the platform for sepsis patients want a public campaign. People but also healthcare professionals need to know more about the condition, which is becoming more and more common. “The sooner you catch it, the greater the chance of recovery.”

Ilona Haas can barely live to tell the tale. The young mother contracts sepsis after surgery. Shortly after the surgery, she is now home, she does not feel well. She appears to have a kidney infection and is receiving antibiotics. The doctor calls her on Friday for a check-up, she doesn’t feel well but she goes into the weekend with the message: ‘just keep an eye on it’.

Totally confused

Things keep going wrong. She gets a high fever, calls the emergency clinic and can come right away. “I remember the nurse next to me said, ‘oh shit,’ and then I collapsed. I went into septic shock, with a heart rate of 30 and a very high fever. I completely passed out -husband, with an accident card next to me I had delirium and was completely confused.”

Ilona is sent home soon after. She still hasn’t fully recovered and doesn’t know what happened to her. In her file she states that she has contracted sepsis. She finds out what exactly that is and what she should do. “There was almost no aftercare from the hospital. They made me feel stupid, and I’m angry about that. I’ve never been able to manage expectations. I thought: ‘I’ll I’ll be back to work in a few weeks’. The recovery took two years, and I’m still not here.”

Long-term liability

That is exactly what researcher doctor Martje Visser wants to change: there needs to be more awareness about sepsis, among the public and also among healthcare professionals. It is necessary to investigate why some people suffer from long-term chronic complaints and how best to deal with them. To do this, a sepsis clinic is being established at the UMC Groningen. “We don’t know what will make one person fully recover and another person not. At the outpatient clinic we can map what we can do for patients and what kind of help we can provide.”

Not a moment too late, the platform for sepsis patients is found ‘Sepsis and beyond’. According to founder Idelette Nutma, the Netherlands is hopelessly behind in the area of ​​information for patients and healthcare workers. “You have to educate people about early signs. The story ‘then you get over-protected citizens’ is not correct. If you have sepsis, it really is like you have never been so sick before. You go down fast. In England and Sweden there are already public initiatives, sepsis awareness is important there too, just like with a heart attack or cerebral palsy.”