We know the names of big killers like cancer, but few people know sepsis. This is life-threatening and is one of the world's biggest killers. One in five deaths worldwide is because of it. Sepsis happens when our body releases too many chemicals into the blood to fight infections. The chemicals damage our organs and can cause organ failure and death. Doctors once called this blood poisoning. Most sepsis cases are in children and newborn babies.
A study into sepsis was in a medical journal. It said 50 million people a year develop sepsis, and 20 per cent of these die. This is double that we thought before. Sepsis kills more people than cancer. A professor said: "We are alarmed to find sepsis deaths are much higher than previously estimated, especially as the condition is both preventable and treatable." He wants to stop sepsis killing newborns. Doctors can treat sepsis with antibiotics.