Pediatric Sepsis Week

Sepsis is the leading cause of death of babies and young children worldwide.
Can you spot the signs?

Join Sepsis Alliance for the third annual Pediatric Sepsis Week, April 18th to 24th, to raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis in children, recognize the 75,000 children who develop sepsis each year in the U.S, and honor those who have passed. This annual observance will be held the third week of April.

Keep scrolling to learn how to spot sepsis in children and how you can help spread awareness and save lives.

Learn to spot sepsis in children
Honor Bug’s Angels
Get to know the facts
Start spreading awareness

Bug Helps You Learn to Stay Sepsis Safe

Can you spot sepsis in children?

The signs of sepsis in a child include:

Feels abnormally cold to touch
Looks mottled, bluish, or has very pale skin
Has a rash that does not fade when pressed
Is breathing very fast
Has a convulsion
Is very lethargic or difficult to wake

Additionally, for children under 5 years:

Not drinking or feeding
Repeated vomiting
12 hours without urinating

If you suspect your child has sepsis, seek emergency care immediately and say, “I suspect sepsis”

Honoring Bug’s Angels

Bug’s Angels are the children whose lives have been claimed by sepsis. Below we honor Prince, Millie, Gabriel, and Josslyn, but there are many more angels. This week and all year round we honor all of Bug’s angels.

Prince Foote

2 years old

Millie Rose Giani

5 years old

Gabriel Rojas

11 months old

Josslyn Sophia Jewel Gee

2 years old

Bug was inspired by the spirit of Erin “Bug” Flatley, an aspiring teacher who passed away from sepsis when she was 23 years old. She was created by Alyssia Aguilar in loving memory of her son Mark Anthony II, who was taken by sepsis when he was only 16 days old.

Learn more about Bug

What you need to know

Sepsis is the leading cause of death of young children and babies worldwide.
In the U.S, 75,000 children develop sepsis each year – that’s 200 children per day.
More children die of sepsis than of childhood cancers.
One-third of pediatric sepsis survivors show a decline in their functional status 28 days after hospital discharge.
Preterm infants who are black are 13 times more likely to develop sepsis and 15 times more likely to die than non-black infants.
Infants from lower income families are 20% more likely to die from sepsis.
Infants from families without health insurance are 3 times more likely to die from sepsis.

Learn more about sepsis in children

Help Spread Awareness

Click the below boxes for shareable resource that will help you spread awareness of sepsis in children. Remember when you share on social media to hashtag #PediatricSepsisWeek and tag @SepsisAlliance.

Sepsis and Children Video

Watch and share this video that tells the story of 8-year-old Michael who developed sepsis from an infection and became a quadruple amputee.

View

Social Media Infographics

Download these infographics and share them with your social media community. Remember to hashtag #PediatricSepsisWeek and tag @SepsisAlliance.

Download Now