Development of sepsis rapid diagnostics tool

Bacterial infection attributes to 95% of 250,000 sepsis cases in the UK annually, with an estimated 50,000 losing their lives. Due to the extremely progressive pathophysiology of sepsis approximately 50% of sepsis survivors will develop either physical or psychological impairment greatly reducing their quality of life. A timely diagnosis and bacterial identification is a challenge for clinicians as current diagnostic methods can take between 24 – 72 hours, leaving the patient on broad spectrum antibiotics and vulnerable. One way to elevate potential survival and prognosis is to develop a rapid sepsis diagnostic tool, similar to ones developed for SARS-CoV-2 allowing clinicians to determine specific antibiotics sooner. Furthermore, awareness of sepsis may also help with improved diagnostics, by asking ‘could this be sepsis’ may initiate earlier tests. We aim to deliver a hybrid conference disseminating our findings, raising awareness to a wider audience. Finally, we aim to develop our existing support network for local sepsis survivors and positively impact the local community, for those who really need it.