Dr. Will Rymer:

There are two issues there. What we have talked about regarding the dental ecosystem means that patients are not able to present to dentists early enough. As we would see with dental infections, they are the same as any other infection; from a small acorn a large oak will grow. We often find that patients are presenting much later. I had two patients admitted this year, not with sepsis but with large spreading infection, which at times could be only a couple of days from becoming a serious problem.

People are also presenting much later. There is also anxiety because of the media attention that something like sepsis would bring. There is anxiety among local communities, particularly in my community, about the fact that people may have to attend hospital. Obviously, there was the recent media attention regarding University Hospital Limerick. Patients are anxious about have to attend for that kind of treatment so they are holding off on getting vital interventions.