Blood Infection Causes

Medically, blood infection is known as sepsis or septicemia. In simple terms, it can be described as poisoning of the blood. It occurs due to presence of bacteria in the blood. When there is a small number of bacteria in the blood, the immune system is strong enough to destroy them. However, these bacteria multiply at a rapid pace when the immune system is weak and release toxins that spread to various parts of the body and damage its tissues and organs. It is a serious medical condition that can cause a septic shock where the blood pressure becomes extremely low and is actually life-threatening.

Causes and Symptoms of Blood Infection

Though the most common cause of this infection is bacteria, virus and fungi can also be responsible for it. These microbes get the scope to enter your body from unwashed hands or unsterilized equipment in the hospital. Some viral or fungal infections in the organs can spread into the blood stream and increase the level of toxins in the blood. This mostly happens in cases of lung infections like pneumonia, urinary tract infections (UTI), ruptured appendix, cellulitis, meningitis, etc.

As we have already mentioned, people who have a weak immune system are prone to septicemia. It can happen because of serious diseases like cancer, AIDS, or serious burns or injuries. Other risk factors are medical treatments like chemotherapy on cancer patients or use of steroids for a prolonged period of time or organ transplant surgery. In these conditions, patients becomes weak under the influence strong medications. It does not mean that healthy people do not suffer from blood infection. In a healthy condition, this infection occurs because of prolonged stay of bacteria inside the body.

The immune system of an elderly people weaken due to aging. As a result, they are at a greater risk of blood infection. Among them, the chances of the infection are higher in those who are suffering from diabetes. You will be surprised to know that babies who are less than one year old can also develop a blood infection as their immunity is not developed enough to withstand any infection. This is mostly found in those cases where the baby had a common infection like fever and was not treated on time with proper medication.

The signs and symptoms of patients suffering from blood infection depends upon the severity of the infection and its underlying cause. Some of the commonly observed symptoms are high fever with shivering in the body, pain and swelling in the joints, low blood pressure, skin rashes, etc. In some cases, disorientation and confusion have also been observed.

Treatment of Blood Infection

Blood infection is diagnosed with the help of physical examination of the patient and studying the medical history. It is followed by several other tests like blood culture, urine culture, X-rays, CT scan, etc. to confirm the infection. Patients who are diagnosed with blood infection are treated in an intensive care unit (ICU) where doctors monitor their condition constantly. Firstly, they are put on mechanical ventilation to prevent respiratory organs failure. In the initial stage of treatment, some antibiotics are administered to the patient intravenously that can kill different types of bacteria. It is accompanied by intravenous administration of fluids in order to increase the blood pressure. Some patients may require dialysis if the kidneys fail to carry out its function. Then doctors try to identify the infection causing bacteria with the help of blood culture. Once it is identified, suitable antibiotics are given to the patient that can destroy the specific bacteria successfully.

Identifying the causes of blood infection is vital for its proper treatment. It becomes difficult to treat a blood infection as many bacteria have developed resistance towards antibiotic medicines. This has happened mainly due to an increase in the use of antibiotics for treating diseases that are caused by different types of viruses.