1 in 3 patients that reach the sepsis stage of infection will die.
Sepsis is may be brought on by a number of different infections including pneumonia, abdominal or urinary tract.
The treatment for sepsis is generally conventional antibiotics.
However, a recent study conducted by UNMC researcher Dr. Andre Kalil, sought to develop and test a new drug designed specifically to treat sepsis.
Dr. Kalil conducted a randomized 5-year trial at 200 hospitals worldwide.
"So the drug was an anti-inflammatory. It blocked a specific part of the bug that connects to the human cells. So the idea here is that when the bug connects to the human cells, we would be able to block inflammation. Unfortunately, the drug didn’t show any benefits. It was the same as doing antibiotics.”
Dr. Kalil says researchers will continue to study why these types of infections occur.
He says there are also other potential drugs currently going through different tests.
Dr. Kalil says he is working on study that uses a device that acts like a filter to remove the toxins from the blood rather than just inhibiting them.