Kids tend to be accident prone. They suffer bumps, bruises and cuts on a fairly regular basis that heal well with no complications. They also get sick with the flu and other illnesses from which they recover well. This is mostly due to the fact that kids are also resilient.
In some instances though, children require much more care for their injuries and illnesses, and the stakes are higher. Kids may bounce back more easily than adults in some cases, but when they contract infections, their little bodies may not have the power needed to adequately fight. If doctors fail to give them the help they need quickly and adequately, an infection could become something much more life threatening.
Children can contract sepsis too
Some children can get through an infection with no ill effects. Others, however, suffer from an immune response that could kill them if doctors fail to diagnose and treat it in time. Approximately 75,000 children suffer from severe sepsis every year. Sadly, around 7,000 of them die from the condition.
You may be one of many parents who misunderstand the nature of sepsis. Sepsis is not an infection. It is the body’s out-of-control response to an infection. For reasons still under investigation by researchers, sepsis occurs when the body’s immune system begins to attack itself. If caught early enough, the condition requires aggressive treatment with antibiotics and is easily survivable. If it progresses into severe sepsis, it could lead to death and lifelong issues.
What repercussions could children suffer?
Sepsis could result in the following lifelong issues for children who survive it:
- Approximately 47 percent of children make a return visit to the hospital for further treatment.
- Around 34 percent suffer cognitive deficiencies.
- The chance of sepsis occurring in adulthood from any infection rises.
Even newborns could contract sepsis during the birthing process and start out their lives with these odds against them.
If your child suffered from severe sepsis, the possibility that a doctor missed something is high. Moreover, if your child was hospitalized at the time, it’s possible that the hospital could bear some legal liability as well. In order to know for sure, it would more than likely benefit you greatly to obtain an understanding of your rights and legal options before moving forward.