Patty Duke’s death from sepsis brings attention to little-known condition

The decision of Oscar-winning actress Patty Duke’s family to describe her cause of death as sepsis is helping bring national attention to the life-threatening but little-known condition, health advocates say.

Duke, 69, died Tuesday at Kootenai Health in Coeur d’Alene of sepsis following a ruptured intestine.

“This disease hits about 1.5 million people in this country every year, yet most of the population has never heard the word sepsis,” said Thomas Heymann, executive director of Sepsis Alliance, a national advocacy group based in San Diego. “In many cases, the cause of death is not listed as sepsis but as a complication” of other diseases.

Including sepsis as the cause of death in Duke’s obituary could help save other lives through early treatment, he said Thursday.

Sepsis is the body’s overwhelming response to infection, which can lead to tissue damage, organ failure and death. It kills more than 285,000 Americans each year and is the nation’s ninth-leading cause of disease-related death, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

People can get sepsis from something as simple as scratching a mosquito bite, Heymann said. It can also follow illnesses such as flu, pneumonia and appendicitis. The risk is greater in people with weakened immune systems, including young children, the elderly and individuals with chronic illnesses such as diabetes, AIDS and cancer, according to the CDC.

Sepsis is difficult to diagnose and treat.

“It’s very treatable if it’s suspected early and treated aggressively. But most people don’t know to think or ask about it in a medical setting,” Heymann said. “Every hour that treatment is delayed, the mortality goes up by 8 percent.”

People with infections and their health care providers should be on alert for sepsis, the CDC says. Symptoms can include shivering or fever, extreme pain, pale skin, confusion and shortness of breath.

“The tricky thing is, one, suspecting and recognizing it and, two, treating it early and aggressively,” said Dr. Todd Hoopman, medical director for Kootenai Health’s intensive care unit. “It can start out mild and become very severe quickly. It can result in multiple body systems malfunctioning at once.”

A patient’s blood pressure can drop quickly, which is called “septic shock,” Hoopman said. Trouble breathing and kidney failure are other possible outcomes.

For privacy reasons, Hoopman couldn’t talk about Duke’s situation. But he said the hospital complies with international protocols for early sepsis detection. The guidelines call for immediate blood cultures in patients at risk, administering antibiotics and starting IV fluids.

Mike Kennedy, Duke’s nephew and a former Coeur d’Alene city councilman, said Duke received excellent care at Kootenai Health.

Sepsis Alliance’s Heymann said recent statistics are cause for optimism. Since the alliance formed as an advocacy group in 2007, the percentage of adults who’ve heard of sepsis has risen from 19 percent to 44 percent, according to national polling.

And hospitals are starting to show gains in reducing death rates from sepsis through the rapid identification of patients at risk, Heymann said.

“We believe we can save 80 percent of the lives that are lost every year,” he said.

But early detection remains critical. The CDC advises people who suspect they have sepsis to tell their doctor, “I am concerned about sepsis,” to get timely treatment of possible complications of an infection.

People don’t want to spend five hours in an emergency room waiting to be seen, Heymann said.

“Our work is very much around raising awareness of sepsis as a medical emergency,” he said. “It’s critical that treatment is started prior to what might be a definitive diagnosis.”