The burden of sepsis in the developing world Early childhood and neonatal sepsis has become a global public health concern. Nearly seven million children die each year before reaching their fifth birthday and around 50% of these deaths are attributable to sepsis and possible serious infections.

Studies have demonstrated the effectiveness of community interventions in reducing neonatal deaths due to sepsis and other severe diseases. But in resource poor settings, the lack of access to health facilities, acute shortage of a trained health workforce and unsatisfactory diagnosis and treatment in the facilities have been identified as some of the major contributors to high sepsis related mortality. Sepsis should be recognised early and treated aggressively. Therefore the quality of care at health facilities needs to be ensured to provide comprehensive management to all sepsis cases in order to prevent or decrease the onset of fatal consequences like septic shock and vital organ failure. A systematic review of thirteen studies in developing country context reported that the post discharge mortality rate may vary between 1% and 18%. The burden of morbidity and mortality of post discharged sepsis cases needs to be further evaluated in developing country context.

As representatives of the Global Sepsis Alliance (http://globalsepsisalliance.com/) we have had fruitful discussions with the WHO and the Global Burden for Disease experts who are eager to highlight the burden posed by sepsis. You can make a difference. Joining the World Sepsis Day initiative is a welcome start (http://www.world-sepsis-day.org/).