Blood Infections

Blood infections, or sepsis, are serious conditions that require immediate treatment in a hospital setting. Rashes called petechiae and purpura appear as dark red or dark purple dots on the skin in those who have a bacterial infection in their bloodstream.

• Healthy Red Blood Cell

Causes

• Blood infections are caused by bacteria, fungi or viruses that have infected other tissues and spread into the bloodstream. Infections occurring after surgery can also cause blood infections.

Symptoms

• Symptoms of a blood infection include fever, low body temperature, rapid heart rate and breathing, skin rash, joint pain, chills and severe shaking and mental confusion.

Treatment

• Treatment for blood infections includes oxygen, antibiotics to kill bacteria, blood pressure medication, intravenous saline solution and overnight hospital admission. Severe cases require admission to the intensive care unit.

Prognosis

• The prognosis after contracting a blood infection depends on age and how soon the infection is treated. Those who are elderly, with poor immune systems and a history of illness have a 20 percent survival rate; healthy people have a 95 percent survival rate.

Annual Occurrence

• According to the National Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, only four to five people per 100,000 develop blood infections each year.