Sepsis, severe sepsis and septic shock: clinical, epidemiological and prognostic characteristics of patients in an intensive care unit in a university hospital

Introduction: Sepsis is considered to be a severe disease with high mortality. The objective of this study was to determine the incidence and evolution of sepsis among critically ill patients. Methods: Prospective surveillance of sepsis was performed in the adult intensive care unit, between April and December 2007. Results: The patient frequency/day was 442. Seventy-five patients (18.6%) had sepsis and 72% of these cases were hospital-acquired. The rates of severe sepsis and septic shock per patient/day were 5.0 and 3.1, respectively. The total mortality was 34.6% and 61% of the cases had microbiological diagnoses. Conclusions: Sepsis presented with higher frequency than is usually described in the literature.