The recent report of a 20-year-old Brazilian model losing both hands and feet and vital organs to Septicemia provoked this article. Model Mariana Bridi da Costa, runner up for Miss World Brazil was hospitalized in December after an infection caused Septicemia and septic shock.

The following description and briefing of septicemia in this article is intended only for the interested and should in no way be used as medical advice.

According to health information services by the U.S. National Library of Medicine and the National Institutes of Health:

Septicemia is bacteria in the bloodstream. A simpler way to explain Septicemia is blood poisining. Bacteremia (bak-tuh-ree-mee-uh) with sepsis (sep-sus) also describes Septicemia.

The death rate of Septicemia is over and above 50% [7/25/2007] and is dependant on how fast a person is administered treatment and which organism is occupied in the bloodstream. Since blood can spread bacteria to any part of the body it is urgent that treatment begins early for this serious condition.

Septicemia is a life threatening illness that would show symptoms such as fever, chills and rapid heart rate. Due to Septicemia’s vigorous progressions, a patient can reach stages of shock by falling blood pressure, hypothermia or blood clotting problems.

A person diagnosed with Septicemia will be hospitalized and urgent attention is needed. Septicemia is a serious illness and can be fatal.

Specifically, bacteria with sepsis, is systemic inflammatory response syndrome and is brought on by a recognized infection in the body. As reported of model Mariana Bridi da Costa of Brazil, a urinary tract infection was detected before Septicemia.

Septicemia can lead to other complications such as adult respiratory distress, septic shock or death. Adult respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) or stiff lung happens when the lung tissue swells and the air sacs in the lungs have fluid and cant transfer oxygen to the bloodstream.

A Septicemia blood poisoning related to meningococci: a bacteria that causes cerebrospinal meningitis can lead to life threatening conditions when the body isn’t getting enough blood flow; when organs start to fail quickly. With severe meningococcal infection, adrenal glands fail because of bleeding into adrenal glands. This is called Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome and can lead to shock or death.

Ordinarily, a person’s blood should be bacteria-free. To detect Septicemia in a patient, a blood culture is often taken from two or three veins. The blood culture is placed under a microscope to see if bacteria are growing. If nothing grows, then the culture is negative. If test is positive, the blood culture will show what type of bacteria is causing infection.

Septicemia is not a common illness but if patient is hospitalized and treated promptly, shock can be prevented before reaching devastation stages. While infections prompt the illness of Septicemia - if treatment begins quickly, Septicemia can be prevented.

Article to treat blood infection at webmd.com:

The number of people dying from sepsis has almost doubled in the past 20 years.

1) Because doctors are using stronger medications to treat patients, immune systems are weakening

2) The number of elderly people with weak immune systems have grown.

3) Because of massive quantities and use of antibiotics used to treat sicknesses caused by viruses instead of bacteria - bacteria have become resistant, causing the treatment of sepsis challenging in some cases.

• Fever, chills and looking extremely sick
• Signs of bleeding into the skin
• Mental changes when sick
• Losing consciousness,dizzy or lightheaded
• Weakness or trouble standing up
• Confusion,restless or fearful
• Decreased urination
• Pain in joints

Other Emerging Infectious Diseases - Brazil

Human parechoviruses (HPeVs) were detected in Salvador, Brazil.

Seroprevalence studies from different countries indicate that almost the entire human adult population is infected. Predominantly in infants, HPeVs can cause a variety of clinical symptoms, including diarrhea, and respiratory infection. Recent data point toward substantial involvement in severe conditions, such as meningitis and infant sepsis, for which HPeV may constitute the second most frequent causative virus after enterovirus in young children. Different HPeV types may cause different clinical diseases.

See full report at Centers for Disease Control and Prevention