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A team of researchers from the University of Illinois and Carle Foundation Hospital in Urbana, Illinois, found that five key biomarkers in blood that characterize sepsis can give physicians as much information as hours of monitoring symptoms.

"Sepsis is a process that happens very rapidly. A patient could change from stable to near death in a matter of days or hours," said Ruoqing Zhu, a professor of statistics at Illinois and a co-leader of the study. "Data show us that if a patient is treated within a few hours of showing symptoms, there is a high survival rate. But as time lengthens, survival rate drops dramatically. So early decision-making is very crucial in treating sepsis."

Sepsis develops when the immune system overreacts to an infection in the body. It triggers widespread inflammation that can very quickly lead to organ failure and even death. Currently, the standard for determining whether a patient has or is developing sepsis is to monitor their vital signs over time to watch for key symptoms.