Blood poisoning is a term used to describe the condition where bacteria have entered the bloodstream. If treated quickly, chances of a permanent adverse reaction are lower, but blood poisoning can turn deadly if the signs and symptoms are not noticed.

Blood poisoning is also known by the names septicemia, bacteremia, or blood poisoning leading to septicemia.  The blood contains bacteria that should not be present.

What Does It Mean to Be “Septic”?

A person who is septic has an infection in their body that has gone unnoticed. At the beginning of an infection, the symptoms can be mistaken for a common cold, or even the beginnings of the flu. It may be diagnosed more easily if the person has had a surgical procedure before the infection became apparent.

Bacteria are not normally in the bloodstream. There are different conditions that bring about the introduction of bacteria into the body. One is surgery. The skin is cut intentionally to repair something inside of the body. The patient is then sewn up, but until the wound begins to heal the inner tissues of the body are susceptible to a bacterial infection.

Bacteria can also enter the bloodstream through the mucus membranes. That means the eyes, ears, nose, mouth, skin and lungs. Usually when the body is breached by an invader, the white blood cells proliferate and come to aid. .

Sometimes the infection can overpower the immune system and that can lead to blood poisoning. Here are some of the symptoms of septicemia:

* A high or low body temperature (fever or hypothermia)
* Rapid heart beat
* Shallow, increased breathing
* Higher than normal white blood cell count
* Lack of urine production
* Coughing.

The main difference between the onset of a cold and septicemia is that the symptoms of septicemia often come on suddenly. With a cold, the symptoms are gradual, come to a peak and then taper off as the body fights the infection. With blood poisoning, the symptoms continue to get worse. The other difference is that a cold is caused by a strain of the rhinovirus. Most cases of sepsis are caused by bacteria (and sometimes a fungal infection).

Treatment for Blood Poisoning

How early the blood poisoning is caught can determine the survival rate and the efficacy of the treatment. The main treatment for it is antibiotics. The bacteria that usually enter the blood consist of Staphylococcus aureus, E. coli, Streptococcus and P. aeruginosa. The type of antibiotic prescribed will depend upon the type of bacteria identified in blood testing.

If caught early it can be treated rather easily. The longer someone goes without treatment, the more problems can result.