Dr. Michael O'Dwyer:

Of sepsis cases within hospitals, about 80% involve patients who come in with sepsis, while about 20% involve patients who develop sepsis. We know uncontroversially that the earlier people receive treatment, the better their outcomes will be. There is a huge global network of research and commercial entities looking for that quick diagnostic that indicates whether it is a case of sepsis. This is not available at the moment. It is not like heart attacks or strokes. You cannot do a CT scan or an ECG. Sepsis masquerades as many different diseases. We do not have a test that provides a definitive "Yes" or "No", which is a real shortcoming but an international one.