SAN DIEGO, CA. (NCN News) – Health officials and advocates want people to know about Sepsis, which contributed to the death of Nascar driver Kyle Busch.
According to the San Diego, California based Sepsis Alliance, Sepsis is a life-threatening emergency that happens when your body’s response to an infection damages vital organs and, often, causes death. The leading cause of death in U.S. hospitals, sepsis is also the number one cost of hospitalization in the U.S. at an estimated $62 billion annually.
For every hour that treatment is delayed, the risk of mortality increases 4-9%, emphasizing the importance of early recognition and treatment, and why sepsis awareness is so important, according to the alliance.
Sepsis is often triggered by infections in the lungs, the skin, digestive system or urinary tract. Kyle Busch’s family said he had pneumonia that in turn triggered Sepsis.
Sepsis awareness among U.S. adults has reached an all-time high, with 75% of Americans now reporting familiarity with the term “sepsis,” according to the 2025 Sepsis Alliance Awareness Survey. This milestone represents a dramatic increase from just 19% when the survey was first conducted in 2003 and a significant jump from 69% in 2024.
The annual survey, conducted by Sepsis Alliance, reveals continued progress in public health education and outreach, and also highlights important disparities. Awareness is significantly higher among white adults, with 84% of adults who identify as white noting they are aware of the term sepsis, compared to 60% of adults who identify as Black and 56% of adults who identify as Hispanic. Baby Boomers (aged 61-79) had the highest awareness of sepsis at 82%, followed by Gen X (45-60) at 77%, Millennials (29-44) at 73%, and Gen-Z (18-28) at 66%. Finally, 84% of adults with higher household income ($80K or more) were aware of the term sepsis, while only 68% of adults in households making under $40K annually knew the term sepsis, and 88% of adults with a post-graduate education knew the term sepsis, compared to only 64% of adults with a high school education or less. These differences underscore the need for more prioritized outreach in underserved communities.
“This year’s results show that our collective efforts are making a difference,” said Thomas Heymann, President and CEO of Sepsis Alliance. “But we can’t stop here. The gaps in awareness signal that we must continue working to ensure every person, regardless of background, has access to critical information that can save lives.”
The survey also sheds light on public health behaviors and trust. Personal healthcare professionals remain the most trusted source of health information, with 89% of adults relying on them, followed by personal connections (79%) and non-profit organizations (64%). Social media was ranked the least trustworthy source of information on the survey, with only 17% of U.S. adults trusting social media for information regarding their health, and 83% specifically marking that they do not trust social media.
When asked what U.S. adults have done in the past 12 months for their personal health, 67% of respondents reported a visit to a healthcare professional in the past year. Yet only 41% say they received a vaccination, highlighting ongoing opportunities to improve public engagement in infection and sepsis prevention.
This record-breaking awareness number is a testament to the work of Sepsis Alliance and sepsis advocates nationwide. Now is not the time to slow down. Sepsis Alliance announced that Sepsis Alliance Institute, the free, virtual learning platform for healthcare professionals, has earned accreditation from the Accreditation Council for Continuing Medical Education (ACCME). Sepsis Alliance Institute, which has already trained more than 60,000 healthcare professionals, is now able to offer continuing education credits to physicians, pharmacists, and other healthcare professionals, in addition to the RN CE credits that have been available since the platform’s launch in 2019.
In addition to this updated offering for healthcare professionals, Sepsis Alliance will continue to provide new and updated free resources for the public, aiming to increase sepsis awareness and empower advocates to raise sepsis awareness in their communities.
Learn more about sepsis and Sepsis Alliance at sepsis.org.