**A blood infection means bacteria, or less often fungi or viruses, have gotten into your bloodstream, and because blood reaches every organ, it can make you sick very quickly.**
Doctors call germs in the blood bacteremia or septicemia, and the infection usually starts somewhere else first, such as the lungs, urinary tract, skin, gut, or an IV line. If your body's response to that infection begins damaging your own organs, it is called sepsis, which is a medical emergency. Warning signs include fever or shivering, a fast heart rate, fast breathing, confusion, low blood pressure, clammy skin, and pain that feels worse than any you have had. Diagnosis relies on blood cultures and other lab tests, and treatment is IV antibiotics, fluids, and hospital monitoring, started as fast as possible. You lower your risk by keeping wounds clean, staying current on vaccines such as flu, COVID-19, and pneumococcal, and treating infections early.
The sepsis warning signs
Common questions
what is a blood infection
A blood infection means germs, most often bacteria, have entered your bloodstream. Doctors call this bacteremia or septicemia. It usually spreads from an infection somewhere else, such as a urinary tract infection, pneumonia, a skin wound, an abdominal infection, or a catheter or IV line. When your body's response to the infection starts injuring your own organs, that is sepsis. Signs include fever or feeling very cold, fast heart rate, fast breathing, confusion, clammy skin, low blood pressure, and severe pain. Blood cultures confirm it. Treatment is IV antibiotics and fluids in a hospital, and starting early matters. Call 911 or go to an emergency room if you have these signs.