If severe sepsis and septic shock are not treated quickly enough, or if treatment does not bring the condition under control, complications can occur such as:
- lungs not being able to take in enough oxygen (respiratory failure)
- the heart not being able to pump enough blood around the body (heart failure)
- other organ failure
These are serious health conditions that will need to be treated urgently. In over half of all cases, septic shock is fatal because of complications such as these.
Factors that can increase your risk of septic shock being fatal include:
- being elderly
- having another health condition
- having a weak immune system, for example because you have HIV
- being infected with bacteria that are resistant to antibiotics
- your organs starting to fail
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Complications of septic shock
