Marking Word Sepsis Day this month, Beckman Coulter supports hospitals and laboratories in their efforts to fight this detrimental and costly crisis by providing tools and resources to overcome the challenges of identifying sepsis.
Up to 50 million people worldwide are affected by sepsis each year, with up to 11 million of these dying from the condition – more people than prostate cancer, breast cancer and HIV/AIDS combined.
Early detection of sepsis is critical, as a delay in antibiotic treatment has been documented as resulting in increased mortality, with a 7.6% increase in death for patients with severe sepsis and septic shock for every hour antibiotic administration is delayed.
Beckman Coulter’s Early Sepsis Indicator (ESId) is a CE Marked, FDA-cleared application that generates the hematologic biomarker, MDW, available to be automatically reported as part of a complete blood count – with differential tests for adults coming through emergency department. MDW is unique compared to other sepsis markers in that it is a measure of morphological changes in monocytes – cells that play a role in the immune system’s early response to infection. The Monocytes change size and shape in response to infection. By measuring MDW as a marker for sepsis, the lab test provides the information necessary for clinical decisions to be made earlier and with more confidence than may otherwise be possible.
A study enrolling 2,158 ED patients in three leading academic centres showed that abnormal MDW values, when considered along with the standard physiologic parameters at the time of patient presentation to the emergency department, signifies a 4- to 6-times higher probability of sepsis being diagnosed.
The Early Sepsis Indicator is available on the Beckman Coulter DxH 900 and DxH 690T hematology analysers as a part of a CBC with Differential. For more information about the Early Sepsis Indicator. Find more information at: https://e.beckmancoulter.com/UnitedIn-sepsis.
