Pediatric sepsis in the developing world: challenges in defining sepsis and issues in post-discharge mortality

Abstract

Matthew O Wiens,1 Elias Kumbakumba,2 Niranjan Kissoon,3 J Mark Ansermino,4 Andrew Ndamira,2 Charles P Larson51School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; 2Department of Pediatrics, Mbarara University of Science and Technology, Mbarara, Uganda; 3Department of Pediatrics, BC Children's Hospital and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; 4Department of Anesthesia, BC Children's Hospital and University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada; 5Department of Pediatrics and School of Population and Public Health, University of British Columbia, Vancouver, CanadaAbstract: Sepsis represents the progressive underlying inflammatory pathway secondary to any infectious illness, and ultimately is responsible for most infectious disease-related deaths. Addressing issues related to sepsis has been recognized as an important step towards reducing morbidity and mortality in developing countries, where the majority of the 7.5 million annual deaths in children under 5 years of age are considered to be secondary to sepsis. However, despite its prevalence, sepsis is largely neglected. Application of sepsis definitions created for use in resource-rich countries are neither practical nor feasible in most developing country settings, and alternative definitions designed for use in these settings need to be established. It has also been recognized that the inflammatory state created by sepsis increases the risk of post-discharge morbidity and mortality in developed countries, but exploration of this issue in developing countries is lacking. Research is urgently required to characterize better this potentially important issue.Keywords: children, pediatric sepsis, developing countries