Why Is This Important?

Septicemia is an infection that happens when bacteria or other germs enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body. That can trigger sepsis, which is the body's reaction to the infection. Septicemia was the ninth leading cause of death among New Jersey residents and fifteenth in the U.S. in 2020.

Definition

Deaths with septicemia as the underlying cause of death. ICD-10 codes: A40-A41 Septicemia refers to the presence of a pathogen in the blood, whereas sepsis is the condition that is caused by the pathogen. In the context of mortality, if the cause of death is septicemia, sepsis is implied.

Data Sources

• Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health
  (https://www.nj.gov/health/vital/)
• Population Estimates, State Data Center, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
  (https://www.nj.gov/labor/labormarketinformation/demographics/population-household-estimates/)
• Underlying Cause of Death, CDC WONDER On-line Database, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  (https://wonder.cdc.gov/Deaths-by-Underlying-Cause.html)

How the Measure is Calculated

How Are We Doing?

In New Jersey, about 2,000 deaths each year are due to septicemia. In the total population and among each racial/ethnic group, males have higher death rates than females. The age-adjusted death rate due to septicemia is significantly higher among Blacks in New Jersey than among other racial/ethnic groups. County rates per 100,000 population (age-adjusted) range from a low of 9 in Hunterdon to a high of 23 in Essex.

How Do We Compare With the U.S.?

The New Jersey age-adjusted death rate due to septicemia is 1.8 times that of the nation as a whole. New Jersey had the second highest age-adjusted septicemia death rate in the US in 2020. [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/septicemia_mortality/septicemia.htm ^1^]

What Is Being Done?

In 2017, New Jersey became the third state to mandate sepsis protocols in its hospitals. [https://nj.gov/health/legal/documents/adoption/8_43G-14.9%20Sepsis%20Protocols.pdf ^2^] Under state law, New Jersey hospitals are required to submit uniform data to the New Jersey Department of Health on health care facility-associated infections. The Department reviews and analyzes these data and reports the results in New Jersey's annual [http://www.nj.gov/health/healthcarequality/health-care-professionals/submit-reporting/hais/index.shtml hospital performance report]. (Note that not all cases of septicemia are acquired in a health care setting.)

More Resources

NJDOH Health Care Quality Assessment: [http://www.nj.gov/health/healthcarequality/] NJDOH Sepsis Info: [https://www.nj.gov/health/cd/topics/sepsis.shtml] CDC Sepsis Info: [https://www.cdc.gov/sepsis/index.html] Medline Plus: [https://medlineplus.gov/sepsis.html] Inpatient Care for Septicemia or Sepsis, NCHS Data Brief, No. 62, June 2011: [http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/data/databriefs/db62.pdf]

Footnote References

1. Septicemia Mortality by State [https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/pressroom/sosmap/septicemia_mortality/septicemia.htm] 2. Infection Control: Sepsis Protocols [https://nj.gov/health/legal/documents/adoption/8_43G-14.9%20Sepsis%20Protocols.pdf]