The parents of a Finglas teen who died in January are asking the Health Minister to urgently introduce a national public awareness campaign around sepsis.
The life-threatening condition is triggered when bacteria from an infection gets into the bloodstream. It can happen from something as simple as a urinary tract infection or a cut in the skin.
Its symptoms are very close to that of the flu which means it can often be undiagnosed. But sepsis kills more people in Ireland than heart attacks, breast cancer, prostate cancer, lung cancer, and colon cancer.
Yet according to a poll commissioned by the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, a staggering 72% of Irish people have never heard of sepsis or don’t know how to define it. (Source: Behaviour and Attitudes poll of 1004 people, Jan 5th – 13th 2018)
In January this year, 15-year-old Sean Hughes was off school with a chest infection. His mother Karen has told The Pat Kenny Show she had been planning to take him back to the doctor because the antibiotics prescribed for him were having no effect. However, before she could do that, Sean slipped into a coma and never regained consciousness.
“That was on Thursday night… He was sitting on the couch and his chest was at him. He said to me ‘This is doing my head in.’ Then he stopped talking… and I couldn’t wake him.”
Karen’s husband Joe says a public awareness campaign is urgently needed to prevent any more lives being lost.
“We know things about the flu, meningitis, cancer… we were oblivious to sepsis. Only after Sean’s death are we learning things about it. Our family, our friends and the wider community in Finglas; they know nothing about it either. For something that’s such a big killer, it’s like it’s nearly a secret.”
Joe and Karen have set up a Facebook page to try and reach as many people as possible. The page’s main message is “Lil Red says; just ask could it be sepsis?”
The HSE has put a National Sepsis Programme in place in the country’s hospitals, following the death of Savita Halappanavar in 2012. Teams deliver seminars to healthcare professionals which show them how to spot the signs in an acute setting.
It has resulted in fewer hospital deaths from sepsis. Dr Karn Cliffe, of the Dublin Midlands Hospital Group, says the rate fell from 22.7% in 2015 to 17.9% last year. However, the HSE is only beginning to spread the word amongst the general public. This year it had a stall at the National Ploughing Championships with the aim of getting the message to as many attendees as possible.
But Joe Hughes says the health authority is not getting the message out to the wider public quick enough.
“Have more families to bury more children with sepsis through ignorance? Is it a money thing? What price can you put on a life?”
Steve Kerrigan, Associate Professor of Pharmacology at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland, says time is of the essence when it comes to sepsis.
“The earlier you get treatment, the more chance you have of survival. For every hour delay in treatment, there’s an 8% risk of mortality. Don’t be afraid to ask your doctor ‘Could this be sepsis?’”
Although #sepsis is one of the biggest killers, the public awareness of what it is or how to spot it, still remains extremely poor. More efforts to empower the public is urgently needed. @MCT_RCSI @RCSI_Irl @RCSIPharmacy @IrishCtrVascBio pic.twitter.com/AxRJ9sFViW
— Steve Kerrigan (@SteveWKerrigan) April 19, 2018
Prof Kerrigan says the under-24 age group have the lowest level of awareness compared to any other demographic. He has launched a campaign using social media to help people spot the signs.
“We’re also trying to engage with schools and sports club, targeting teachers, coaches, and athletes. They often have cuts. It’s very important that if there’s a break in the skin and blood appears, bacteria will get into the bloodstream. So it needs to be cleaned properly. It’s not just a case of stick a plaster on it and let them go.”
There is no test for sepsis, however, a group of DCU academics has developed a tool called SepTec that can detect pathogens in the blood within 15 minutes. They’re hoping they can eventually get the product to market with the aim of having one in every GP surgery.
You'll find more information about how to spot the signs of sepsis on www.hse.ie/sepsis
Listen to the full interview with Sean's parents, Joe and Karen, on The Pat Kenny Show.
