Sessions 11 and 12 from the 4th World Sepsis Congress are now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

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Session 11: Understanding and Improving Long-term Outcomes After Sepsis and COVID-19

The Burden of Long-Term Consequences of Sepsis and COVID-19
Jamie Rylance, World Health Organization, Switzerland

What Is Known on the Pathogenesis of Long-Term Sequelae by Infections and Sepsis?
Joost Wiersinga, Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands

Toward Tailored Care for Sepsis Survivors
Erin Carlton, University of Michigan, United States of America

How Can We Mitigate Post-Sepsis and Post-COVID-Morbidity?
Hallie Prescott, University of Michigan, United States of America

Translating Post-Sepsis Care to Post-COVID-19 Care – The Role of Healthcare Systems
Stephanie Taylor, University of Michigan, United States of America

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Session 12: Neonatal Sepsis Platforms and Guidelines

Disproportionate Burden of AMR Excess Deaths Experienced by Neonates in Low- and Middle-Income Countries
Ramanan Laxminarayan, University of Washington, United States of America

Incidence and Burden of Neonatal Sepsis in South Africa
Vanessa Quan, National Institute for Communicable Diseases, South Africa

Neonatal Sepsis and Treatment Challenges in India
Jeeva Sankar, All India Institute Of Medical Sciences, India

Invasive Bloodstream Infections and AMR in Africa: Approaches to Treatment and Next Steps
Uduak Okomo, MRC Unit, The Gambia

Next Steps for NeoSep
Julia Bielicki, St George’s University of London, United Kingdom

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Two sessions are released weekly on Tuesdays. The next sessions will be ‘The Impact of Survivors and Family Members to Improve Sepsis Awareness and Advocacy’ and ‘Maternal Sepsis: Why Is It Still in the Top 3 for Global Incidence of Sepsis?’ on June 13, 2023.

You can already subscribe on either platform to be automatically notified once new sessions are available.

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Full Release Schedule

• May 2:

  • S1: Opening Session – Key Success Factors to Address Global Health Threats

  • S2: The Health Economic and Human Burden of Infections and Pandemics

• May 9:

  • S3: Overcoming Silos to Address Infection-Related Global Health Threats

  • S4: The Quality of Healthcare Systems and QI Efforts on Outcomes from Sepsis and Pandemics

• May 16:

  • S5: Advances and Challenges by Our Regional Sepsis Alliances

  • S6: Advances in Timely Pathogen and Sepsis Detection

• May 23:

  • S7: The Benefits of Multidisciplinary Teams in Sepsis Care on the Health Care Facility Level

  • S8: The Potential and Challenges to Intervene with the Immune Response

• May 30:

  • S9: Biomarkers and Antimicrobial Stewardship – The Synergies to Diagnose Sepsis and to Prevent AMR

  • S10: Lessons from the Pandemic to Fight Common Infections and Sepsis

• June 6:

  • S11: Understanding and Improving Long-term Outcomes after Sepsis and COVID-19

  • S12: Neonatal Sepsis Platforms and Guidelines

• June 13:

  • S13: The Impact of Survivors and Family Members to Improve Sepsis Awareness and Advocacy

  • S14: Maternal Sepsis: Why Is It Still in the Top 3 for Global Incidence of Sepsis?

• June 20:

  • S15: Harnessing the Media to Advance the Global Fight Against Sepsis

  • S16: An Update on Research on Sepsis

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As September 13 approaches, we can feel the anticipation for World Sepsis Day building. It's incredible how time flies, and we expect many events to take place. Among the activities lined up for this important day is the 7th Annual National Forum on Sepsis, presented by End Sepsis – The Legacy of Rory Staunton.

In the past year, END SEPSIS has made significant progress in making sepsis a top national priority. They have secured funding and support from the government and are developing new strategies to improve sepsis care. The END SEPSIS National Forum on Sepsis brings together leaders from various sectors to discuss recent gains and future plans. This event will take place in Washington, D.C., and will be live-streamed for a global audience.

We are excited to spread the word, so mark your calendars and join in person or virtually to be a part of this discussion. Together, we can make a difference in the fight against sepsis. Let's come together and ensure that sepsis is no longer a silent threat to our global community.

Sessions 9 and 10 from the 4th World Sepsis Congress are now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

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Session 9: Biomarkers and Antimicrobial Stewardship – The Synergies to Diagnose Sepsis and to Prevent AMR

The Key Drivers of Antimicrobial Resistance
Silvia Bertagnolio, World Health Organization, Switzerland

The Potential and Barriers to Antibiotic Stewardship
Ron Daniels, Infection Management Coalition, United Kingdom

The Potential of Biomarkers for Antimicrobials – Use and Diagnosis
Evdoxia Kyriazopoulou, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece

The Role of Biomarkers for Risk Stratification
Peter Pickkers, Radboud UMC, The Netherlands

The Evidence for the Role of Transcriptional Diagnostics
Tom van der Poll, Amsterdam UMC, The Netherlands

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Session 10: Lessons from the Pandemic to Fight Common Infections and Sepsis

Learnings to Leverage the Fight Sepsis from an Integrated Health Service Perspective
Benedetta Allegranzi, World Health Organization, Switzerland

Preparing the EU to Manage Infections and Cross-Border Health Threats More Effectively
Velina Pendolovska, Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety, European Commission, Luxembourg

Lessons for Fighting Infections and Sepsis in Resource-Limited Settings
John Adabie Appiah, African Sepsis Alliance, Ghana

The Perspective of a Bedside Intensivist and the Potential of Telemedicine for Non-Covid Sepsis
Wiltrud Abels, Sepsis Stiftung, Germany

Learnings by a Caregiver and Researcher in Vietnam
Louise Thwaites, Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance, Vietnam

Lessons for Clinical Research and Intensive Care Medicine
John Marshall, Unity Health, Canada

Discussion by the Panelists

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Two sessions are released weekly on Tuesdays. The next sessions will be ‘Understanding and Improving Long-term Outcomes After Sepsis and COVID-19’ and ‘Neonatal Sepsis Platforms and Guidelines’ on June 6, 2023.

You can already subscribe on either platform to be automatically notified once new sessions are available.

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Full Release Schedule

• May 2:

  • S1: Opening Session – Key Success Factors to Address Global Health Threats

  • S2: The Health Economic and Human Burden of Infections and Pandemics

• May 9:

  • S3: Overcoming Silos to Address Infection-Related Global Health Threats

  • S4: The Quality of Healthcare Systems and QI Efforts on Outcomes from Sepsis and Pandemics

• May 16:

  • S5: Advances and Challenges by Our Regional Sepsis Alliances

  • S6: Advances in Timely Pathogen and Sepsis Detection

• May 23:

  • S7: The Benefits of Multidisciplinary Teams in Sepsis Care on the Health Care Facility Level

  • S8: The Potential and Challenges to Intervene with the Immune Response

• May 30:

  • S9: Biomarkers and Antimicrobial Stewardship – The Synergies to Diagnose Sepsis and to Prevent AMR

  • S10: Lessons from the Pandemic to Fight Common Infections and Sepsis

• June 6:

  • S11: Understanding and Improving Long-term Outcomes after Sepsis and COVID-19

  • S12: Neonatal Sepsis Platforms and Guidelines

• June 13:

  • S13: The Impact of Survivors and Family Members to Improve Sepsis Awareness and Advocacy

  • S14: Maternal Sepsis: Why Is It Still in the Top 3 for Global Incidence of Sepsis?

• June 20:

  • S15: Harnessing the Media to Advance the Global Fight Against Sepsis

  • S16: An Update on Research on Sepsis

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World Sepsis Day on September 13 is already looming on the horizon – will you be joining us to raise awareness for sepsis this year? We have collected a ton of resources, inspiration, and ideas for you here.

If you have any questions or can’t find what you are looking for, please contact us.

Sessions 7 and 8 from the 4th World Sepsis Congress are now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

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Session 7: The Benefits of Multidisciplinary Teams in Sepsis Care on the Health Care Facility Level

Impact of Sepsis Multidisciplinary Team Care on Patients Outcomes
Yaseen Arabi, Ministry of National Guard Health Affairs, Saudi Arabia

Initiation of Antimicrobial Stewardship in Resource-Constrained Environments: A Multidisciplinary Approach
Mirfin Mpundu, Director of ReAct Africa, Zambia

Sepsis Nurse – A Voice to Lead and Transform Care
Amanda Harley, Children’s Health Queensland, Australia

Family-Centered Care and Integration of Care Bundles
Kawaldip Sehmi, International Alliance of Patients’ Organization, United Kingdom

Early Rehabilitation in Sepsis: Journey to Return Activities and Functional Independence
Mohammed Alatwi, King Fahad Medical City, Saudi Arabia

Discussion by the Panelists

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Session 8: The Potential and Challenges to Intervene with the Immune Response

The Impact of the Pathogen and the Host Response on Survival
Jennifer Muszynski, Nationwide Children’s, United States of America

Sepsis Immune Endotypes
Mihai Netea, Radboud UMC, The Netherlands

The Effect of Risk Stratification and Timing of Host-Directed Therapy
Evangelos J. Giamarellos-Bourboulis, European Sepsis Alliance, Greece

The Pros of Platform Trials
Eirini Christaki, University of Ioannina, Greece

The Cons of Platform Trials 
Niels Riedemann, CEO InflaRx, Germany

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Two sessions are released weekly on Tuesdays. The next sessions will be ‘Biomarkers and Antimicrobial Stewardship – The Synergies to Diagnose Sepsis and to Prevent AMR’ and ‘Lessons from the Pandemic to Fight Common Infections and Sepsis’ on May 30, 2023.

You can already subscribe on either platform to be automatically notified once new sessions are available.

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Full Release Schedule

• May 2:

  • S1: Opening Session – Key Success Factors to Address Global Health Threats

  • S2: The Health Economic and Human Burden of Infections and Pandemics

• May 9:

  • S3: Overcoming Silos to Address Infection-Related Global Health Threats

  • S4: The Quality of Healthcare Systems and QI Efforts on Outcomes from Sepsis and Pandemics

• May 16:

  • S5: Advances and Challenges by Our Regional Sepsis Alliances

  • S6: Advances in Timely Pathogen and Sepsis Detection

• May 23:

  • S7: The Benefits of Multidisciplinary Teams in Sepsis Care on the Health Care Facility Level

  • S8: The Potential and Challenges to Intervene with the Immune Response

• May 30:

  • S9: Biomarkers and Antimicrobial Stewardship – The Synergies to Diagnose Sepsis and to Prevent AMR

  • S10: Lessons from the Pandemic to Fight Common Infections and Sepsis

• June 6:

  • S11: Understanding and Improving Long-term Outcomes after Sepsis and COVID-19

  • S12: Neonatal Sepsis Platforms and Guidelines

• June 13:

  • S13: The Impact of Survivors and Family Members to Improve Sepsis Awareness and Advocacy

  • S14: Maternal Sepsis: Why Is It Still in the Top 3 for Global Incidence of Sepsis?

• June 20:

  • S15: Harnessing the Media to Advance the Global Fight Against Sepsis

  • S16: An Update on Research on Sepsis

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We would like to cordially invite all of you to our next World Sepsis Day Supporter Meeting, happening virtually on Wednesday, May 31, 2023, at 14:00h Central European Summer Time. Participation is open to everyone and free of charge.

Over the course of about 90 minutes, we will give you a sneak peek at what we are planning for the upcoming World Sepsis Day, but, most importantly, we want to hear from you and exchange ideas to make it a successful global event.

To participate in the WSD Supporter Meeting, please register here. Participation is open to everyone and free of charge.

We look forward to seeing you at the end of May – your participation and ideas are highly appreciated to make World Sepsis Day even more appealing and successful, contributing to saving countless lives and improving sepsis care globally.

Sessions 5 and 6 from the 4th World Sepsis Congress are now available on YouTube (embedded above) and as a Podcast on Apple Podcasts (just search for World Sepsis Congress in your favorite podcast app).

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Session 5: Advances and Challenges by Our Regional Sepsis Alliances

Increasing Sepsis Recognition in Africa via Advocacy
Emmanuel Nsutebu, African Sepsis Alliance, United Arab Emirates

Fostering Quality Improvement in Sepsis Management in Africa via Research
Shevin Jacob, African Research Collaboration on Sepsis, Uganda

Responding to the Burden of Sepsis Across the Asia Pacific Through Regional Advocacy, Education, and Support for Low-Resource Settings
Madiha Hashmi, Asia Pacific Sepsis Alliance, Pakistan

Progress and Challenges in Placing Sepsis on the European Agenda
Evangelos J. Giamarellos-Bourboulis, European Sepsis Alliance, Greece

The Progress in the Fight Against Sepsis in Latin America
Daniela Souza, Latin American Sepsis Institute, Brazil

Sepsis Quality Improvement in Qatar: An Experience From the Eastern Mediterranean Region
Rasha Ashour, Eastern Mediterranean Sepsis Alliance, Qatar

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Session 6: Advances in Timely Pathogen and Sepsis Detection

A Need for Early Diagnosis – Taking the Patient Experience into Consideration
Amy Campbell, ECU Health, United States of America

Health Inequities as a Barrier to the Timely Diagnosis of Sepsis
Elissa Estensoro, Hospital Interzonal San Martin de La Plata, Argentina

Current Research on Sepsis Biomarkers and Early Diagnosis
François Ventura, University Hospitals of Geneva, Switzerland

Is Sequencing Useful to Detect Sepsis? A Tour of Metagenomics and Transcriptomics for Timely Infection Diagnosis
Miriam Huntley, Day Zero Diagnostics, United States of America

Sepsis Diagnosis: A Paradigm Shift Towards Biosensing
Tan Toh Leong, University Kebangsaan Malaysia, Malaysia

An Interpretable Machine Learning Model for Accurate Prediction of Sepsis in the ICU
Rishi Kamaleswaran, Emory University, United States of America

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Two sessions are released weekly on Tuesdays. The next sessions will be ‘The Benefits of Multidisciplinary Teams in Sepsis Care on the Health Care Facility Level’ and ‘The Potential and Challenges to Intervene with the Immune Response’ on May 23, 2023.

You can already subscribe on either platform to be automatically notified once new sessions are available.

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Full Release Schedule

• May 2:

  • S1: Opening Session – Key Success Factors to Address Global Health Threats

  • S2: The Health Economic and Human Burden of Infections and Pandemics

• May 9:

  • S3: Overcoming Silos to Address Infection-Related Global Health Threats

  • S4: The Quality of Healthcare Systems and QI Efforts on Outcomes from Sepsis and Pandemics

• May 16:

  • S5: Advances and Challenges by Our Regional Sepsis Alliances

  • S6: Advances in Timely Pathogen and Sepsis Detection

• May 23:

  • S7: The Benefits of Multidisciplinary Teams in Sepsis Care on the Health Care Facility Level

  • S8: The Potential and Challenges to Intervene with the Immune Response

• May 30:

  • S9: Biomarkers and Antimicrobial Stewardship – The Synergies to Diagnose Sepsis and to Prevent AMR

  • S10: Lessons from the Pandemic to Fight Common Infections and Sepsis

• June 6:

  • S11: Understanding and Improving Long-term Outcomes after Sepsis and COVID-19

  • S12: Neonatal Sepsis Platforms and Guidelines

• June 13:

  • S13: The Impact of Survivors and Family Members to Improve Sepsis Awareness and Advocacy

  • S14: Maternal Sepsis: Why Is It Still in the Top 3 for Global Incidence of Sepsis?

• June 20:

  • S15: Harnessing the Media to Advance the Global Fight Against Sepsis

  • S16: An Update on Research on Sepsis

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I felt like Superwoman, strong and invincible! Running my own catering company with my husband, working over 60 hours a week, but never skipping my daily 6:15 am run, and in my free moments playing with my five-year-old daughter. I had just turned 40, but I have never been in better shape. Unbreakable… until July 16th, 2021.

The day before, everything was as usual: starting my day at 6.15 am with a 10km run. After breakfast, I brought my daughter to summer school, and it was just another typical busy high-season day on sunny Minorca. After work, we enjoyed a Spanish family dinner at 10 pm, as my mother-in-law was going to fly back to the mainland the morning after.

At 4 am, I woke up with a funny feeling in my tummy. Not sure if I am just hungry or feeling sick, I went to the kitchen to eat a banana. Ten minutes later, I start vomiting and have diarrhea. After that, my health was declining rapidly. At 7 am, I can just crawl the two meters between the bathroom and my bed. My mother-in-law has canceled her flight and started calling for an ambulance. I felt like flying and could barely move. Because no medical is coming and neither does the ambulance, my mother-in-law makes me an ORS. Finally, at 11 am, I stopped vomiting and was able to drink some water.

At 11:30 am, I had the honor of a cranky doctor and a clumsy nurse next to my bed. My blood pressure was on the floor and my fever was through the roof. Diagnosis without any test: COVID-19 (what else?). The order is to isolate me, and a COVID-19 ambulance will pick me up as soon as possible. After tens of calls, my mother-in-law throws in her final weapon, telling them that she will call the police if they do not send an ambulance immediately because I am on edge. Just 15 minutes later, I lost consciousness for a moment while they try to get me to the ambulance in a wheelchair.

At the hospital I do not show any progress, my blood pressure keeps on dropping and my heart rate is going up. During the X-ray, I passed out again. My caring emergency doctor brought the head of the ICU to my bed, and he takes me to his unit at 11:30 pm. In less than 24 hours I went from doing perfectly fine to the ICU. Diagnosed with severe sepsis and septic shock with multi-organ failure, of unknown origin (definitely not COVID-19!). I will turn out to be the most annoying ICU patient ever, as I hardly sleep.

The super friendly and caring head of the ICU tells me that I have been amazingly lucky and that having a strong (runners) heart probably saved my life. My good physical shape and 2 guardian angels on each shoulder make me recover almost as quickly as I got ill. After only 3 days in the ICU and one in the traumatology unit (the only free bed because of COVID-19), I asked to go home. Before going, I asked my doctor if there is any risk if I go for a run next week…

I never imagined the battle that was waiting for me. Hospital dismissal was just the beginning of my recovery. To be very clear: I was extremely lucky to get out of a septic shock like I did. But the road to recovery has been a fight, full of tears, fears, and frustration. And mostly, it has been a lonely road without any understanding and information from medical professionals. There is near to nothing available for sepsis patients in Spain.

That made me decide to do something and use my experience for something worthy. Being Dutch and understanding English, I could contact ¨Sepsis en daarna¨ in the Netherlands and the European Sepsis Alliance and read about sepsis. After going to medical specialists and getting no answers or conflicting information about my sequelae, reading the ESA’s “Life after sepsis guide” made me realize that I am not crazy, and I am definitely not the only one. Although Superwomen died in the ICU, I am determined to make Spanish sepsis survivors feel the same: together the battle is more bearable!

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The article above was written by Marianne Haverkamp and is shared here with her explicit consent. The views in the article do not necessarily represent those of the Global Sepsis Alliance. They are not intended or implied to be a substitute for professional medical advice. The whole team here at the Global Sepsis Alliance and World Sepsis Day wishes to thank Marianne for sharing her story and for fighting to raise awareness for sepsis. The text has been lightly edited for clarity.

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