Dr. Michael O'Dwyer:

The principles in the adult are very much the same. They present slightly differently, but an adult can say what is going on. The underlying thing is you must have an infection. Sepsis may be the presentation of that infection. You may not know you have an infection. It is important to know you can develop sepsis even if you are on antibiotics. If you have gone to the GP and have had antibiotics, you are probably okay but it does not mean you are definitely going to be okay. Sometimes the only things our elderly population will come in with are confusion, slurred speech and feeling out of sorts. That is frequently a sign of a urinary tract infection or pneumonia. Then we run through the sepsis acronym: extreme shivering; extreme temperatures; not peeing; the same as the paediatric cohort, they will tell you they think they are going to die; shortness of breath; and blue lips. It is a constellation of different types of symptoms. In older people, confusion in the setting of a known infection is a sign of developing sepsis.