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Health Indicator Report of Deaths due to Septicemia

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.

Notes

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

  • Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, National Center for Health Statistics. Underlying Cause of Death File. CDC WONDER On-line Database accessed at [https://wonder.cdc.gov/Deaths-by-Underlying-Cause.html]
  • Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health
  • Population Estimates, [https://www.nj.gov/labor/lpa/dmograph/est/est_index.html State Data Center], New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development

Definition

Deaths with septicemia as the underlying cause of death. ICD-10 codes: A40-A41

Numerator

Number of deaths due to septicemia

Denominator

Total number of persons in the population

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 healthcare setting.)
Page Content Updated On 04/29/2022, Published on 04/29/2022
The information provided above is from the Department of Health's NJSHAD web site (https://nj.gov/health/shad). The information published on this website may be reproduced without permission. Please use the following citation: " Retrieved Thu, 28 March 2024 17:18:40 from Department of Health, New Jersey State Health Assessment Data Web site: https://nj.gov/health/shad ".

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