Systemic Infection vs Sepsis

Nurses General Nursing

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Can someone please explain the difference between sepsis and system infection?

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Specializes in ER, Neuro, Trauma, Educator.

Hi! the way i think about SIRS vs. Sepsis is that they are a continuum instead of a "vs." situation. Check out this infographic:

http://reference.medscape.com/features/slideshow/severe-sepsis?src=wnl_ref_clinfo&uac=25003ET#4

Let me know if that helps or if you have additional questions :)

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Specializes in Critical Care.

That infographic is a bit misleading, since SIRS and Sepsis are not actually continuations of the same thing. The presence of bacteria in the blood is bacteremia, if the presence of bacteria in the blood triggers a systemic response then that is sepsis, a systemic response can also be triggered without bacteria being present in the blood which is SIRS. If SIRS occurs due to bacteremia, then it's sepsis.

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not entirely sure, but to me sirs is a condition that could trigger or leads to sepsis.

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Specializes in ER, Neuro, Trauma, Educator.

Good point, you are right. I assumed from the comment that the OP was asking about them in relation to each so thank you for the clarification :)

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Specializes in ER, Neuro, Trauma, Educator.

Someone just posted an article about this on AN :)

https://allnurses.com/critical-care-nursing/adult-critical-care-1039850.html

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