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Sepsis: the signs, acting fast, who is at higher risk, and getting better after
For anyone with an infection that is not getting better, anyone looking after someone who has one, and anyone home after sepsis. CDC says sepsis is the body’s extreme response to an infection, a life-threatening medical emergency, and that almost any infection can lead to it. With fast recognition and effective treatment, most people survive. This page passes on, by name, what CDC’s sepsis pages say: the six signs, acting fast and the question to ask, who is at higher risk, what happens at the hospital, getting better at home, and preventing infections. It builds the words to say to a nurse line, a doctor’s office or the emergency room, and prints a card to bring.
Right now
- Someone with an infection is confused or hard to wake, is struggling to breathe, or is in extreme pain: call 911 or go to the emergency room now. Sepsis is a life-threatening medical emergency (CDC).
- The six signs (CDC): clammy or sweaty skin; confusion or disorientation; extreme pain or discomfort; fever, shivering or feeling very cold; high heart rate or weak pulse; shortness of breath.
- An infection that is not getting better, or is getting worse? CDC says act fast: get medical care immediately, and ask, “Could this infection be leading to sepsis?” and “Should I go to the emergency room?”
More help
- Infections on this site: Flu · COVID-19 · RSV · Fever in a baby or child.
- Living with a condition: Cancer · Kidney disease · Diabetes.
- Keeping track: Symptom diary · Get ready for an appointment. No insurance: When you need a doctor and can’t pay.
- In a crisis: Help right now (988, 911). All our free tools.
This page and its wording were written with AI (Claude) for Scarlet Beast (our AI policy). No doctor or nurse has reviewed it. The facts were read on October 14, 2026 on CDC’s sepsis pages on cdc.gov: About Sepsis (updated August 17, 2026), Risk Factors for Sepsis (August 19, 2025), Preventing Infections That Can Lead to Sepsis (August 19, 2025), Managing Recovery from Sepsis (September 24, 2025), About Get Ahead of Sepsis (September 24, 2025), and CDC’s Spanish page Acerca de la septicemia (September 14, 2026). CDC’s fact sheets for particular groups (PDFs) could not be opened from our server, so nothing here comes from them. Ours: calling 911 rather than driving to an office when someone is very sick, saying the word “sepsis” out loud, bringing a list of medicines, the 988 line for the feelings after, and the order of the steps. What we left out: CDC’s clinical pages for providers, most national counts, and medicine names. This page saves nothing and loads no trackers.