As of: March 27, 2024, 5:16 a.m
By: Michel Guddat, Michelle Brey
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Every seven minutes a person dies of blood poisoning in Germany.
How does the disease arise?
And how can it be prevented?
Munich – The cult actor Fritz Wepper is dead. The Munich native died on March 25th at the age of 82.
In 2011 he suffered from sepsis - and then struggled with the consequences from which he never fully recovered.
In 2023 he contracted blood poisoning again and was treated in a Munich clinic.
His lawyer Norman Synek confirmed this to the
dpa
news agency .
Sepsis is a serious illness.
Fritz Wepper suffered sepsis: What are the causes and risk factors of blood poisoning?
Every year, 75,000 people are affected by blood poisoning.
This number makes sepsis the third most common cause of death in Germany after cancer and cardiovascular diseases.
The reasons for such a high number of sufferers lie in the causes of blood poisoning: On the one hand, sepsis can arise from a wound, for example an inflamed cut.
On the other hand, sepsis can also be caused by an infection inside the body.
According to the
AOK
health magazine , common illnesses can include pneumonia, abdominal infections or urinary tract infections.
At the end of 2023, Fritz Wepper was hospitalized with blood poisoning: the Munich cult actor died a few months later.
© Sven Simon/Imago
So in principle it can affect anyone.
However, infants under one year of age and older people aged 60 and over have an increased risk, as the AOK informs.
Other risk factors include:
Cancer
diabetes
A missing spleen
A chronic disease of an organ
A weakened immune system
Overreaction of the immune system can lead to life-threatening septic shock
How do pathogens manage to overcome our body's immune system?
Normally our body is able to control infections locally.
However, if the pathogens spread through the lymphatic and blood vessel systems in the body and virtually flood it, the immune system reacts excessively.
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In such cases, the immune cells not only attack the pathogens, but also their own tissue.
This leads to life-threatening septic shock.
Several organs fail, according to the
AOK
.
Immediate emergency medical treatment is essential as septic shock can be fatal.
What are typical symptoms of blood poisoning?
High fever - but also a body temperature below 36 degrees can indicate sepsis, according to the Robert Koch Institute (RKI).
chills
Increased pulse (above 120/min) or low pulse (below 50/min)
Pains
Strong, general feeling of illness
A woman in the US had the “severest stage of sepsis”.
Her arms and legs rotted away.
She thought she had a cold.
How can sepsis be prevented?
There is no direct prevention.
Because blood poisoning is always preceded by an infection.
However, some measures can help prevent this.
So you reduce the risk of sepsis.
According to the RKI, these include thorough personal and oral hygiene, a healthy lifestyle, vaccinations against various viruses (such as influenza) or professional treatment of illnesses.
“The editor wrote this article and then used an AI language model for optimization at his own discretion. All information has been carefully checked. Find out more about our AI principles here.