Sepsis breakthrough as blood test trial for killer condition underway

According to the Global Sepsis Alliance one person dies from sepsis every three to four seconds.

(Jeff Moore/PA Wire)

Scientists are hoping a new 45-minute blood test can quickly identify sepsis before it kills.

Sepsis is a life-threatening reaction to an infection. It occurs when the body overreacts and starts attacking its own tissues and organs.

The hard-to-diagnose condition kills nearly 50,000 Brits a year more than breast, prostate and bowel cancer combined - with severe cases taking just hours to prove fatal.

Dr Andrew Retter, an intensive care consultant at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust, who is trialling the test told The Times: “If someone comes into A&E and they’re sick, we can spot that early and start treatment early.

“For every hour antibiotics are delayed, people’s mortality goes up by about 7 or 8 per cent if they’ve got sepsis.”

Sepsis, bacteria in blood. 3D illustration showing rod-shaped bacteria in blood with red blood cells and leukocytes (Getty Images/iStockphoto)

His trialled test can produce results in less than 45 minutes and costs between £20 and £30. Recent studies found that people from the most deprived communities were 80 per cent more likely to develop sepsis compared to people from the least deprived.

Like Alexander Fleming’s discovery of Penicillin, the test was discovered by accident.

Diagnostic experts Volition were investigating how to spot cancer in blood samples when they detected neutrophil extracellular traps (NETs) instead - a DNA molecule which helps stop and trap dangerous infections in the body.

When too many NETs form in the blood it can trigger an inflammation which causes blood pressure to fall sharply and, ultimately, fatal damage to vital organs.

The new test, called Nu.Q NETS, has successfully identified sepsis on frozen blood samples but the trial will now compare bloods of 450 patients who died of sepsis and 50 cardiology patients who shouldn’t have the killer condition.

Melissa Mead’s one-year-old son William died after weeks of a lingering cough and concerns were dismissed by doctors and 111 operators.

William, who coughed so hard it made him sick, died in 2014 from sepsis, after a Strep A infection progressed into the invasive Group Strep A disease.

The campaigner told The Times: “A test like this at the point of care in A&E, for example, could remove the uncertainty about sepsis, which presents differently in different people.

“This could give people a chance at life that my son never had.”

Signs of sepsis include pale or mottled skin, lethargy, low urine output, persistent vomiting, not drinking and a high temperature. More information can be found on the UK Sepsis Trust website.