ABSTRACT
With an estimated incidence exceeding 1.1 million cases per year in the United States (Moore and Moore, 2012), sepsis is the 10th leading cause of death overall in this country (Yang et al., 2010). As of 2005, “mortality of severe sepsis exceeds other high-prole diseases such as AIDS, venous thromboembolism, and both lung and colon cancers” (Jones, 2006). Moreover, septic shock-related mortality is greater than 40%, and sepsis itself is the leading cause of death in noncardiac intensive care units (Moore and Moore, 2012). Little progress in reducing sepsis is being made: to the contrary, between 2003 and 2007, hospitalizations for severe sepsis in the United States increased by 71% and in 2007 incurred a cost of $24.3 billion (Lagu et al., 2012). Mortality rates have decreased little in the past 30 years (Astiz and Rackow, 1998). As of 2005, multidrug-resistant bacteria and fungi were noted to cause about 25% of cases (Annane et al., 2005), increasing the importance for identifying adjuvant treatments capable of strengthening the immune system of patients.
