Pediatric Sepsis Week

Do you know the signs and symptoms of sepsis? You could save a child.

Join Sepsis Alliance for Pediatric Sepsis Week 2025 from April 20th to 26th. Help raise awareness of the signs and symptoms of sepsis in children, recognize the 75,000 children who develop sepsis each year in the U.S, and honor those who have passed. This annual observance is held the third week of April.

Keep scrolling to learn how to spot sepsis in children and how you can help spread awareness and save lives.

Learn to spot sepsis in children
Honor Bug’s Angels
Get to know the facts
Start spreading awareness

Bug Helps You Learn to Stay Sepsis Safe

Find more videos from Sepsis Alliance on our YouTube channel. Click here.

Can you spot sepsis in children?

The signs of sepsis in a child include:

Feels abnormally cold to touch
Looks mottled, bluish, or has very pale skin
Has a rash that does not fade when pressed
Is breathing very fast
Has a convulsion
Is very lethargic or difficult to wake

Additionally, for children under 5 years:

Not drinking or feeding
Repeated vomiting
12 hours without urinating

If you suspect your child has sepsis, seek emergency care immediately and say, “I suspect sepsis”

What you need to know

Sepsis is the leading cause of death of young children and babies worldwide.
In the U.S., 75,000 children develop sepsis each year – that’s 200 children per day.
More children die of sepsis than of childhood cancers.
One-third of pediatric sepsis survivors show a decline in their functional status 28 days after hospital discharge.
Preterm infants who are Black are 13 times more likely to develop sepsis and 15 times more likely to die than non-Black infants.
Infants from lower-income families are 20% more likely to die from sepsis.
Infants from families without health insurance are 3 times more likely to die from sepsis.

Learn more about sepsis in children

For Healthcare Professionals

Join Sepsis Alliance Institute for a free webinar on April 24th!

Advancements in Pediatric Sepsis Diagnosis: Introducing the Phoenix Sepsis Score

Wednesday, April 24th, 2-3 pm ET / 11 – 12 pm PT

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition and globally is one of the leading causes of death in children. An international task force sponsored by the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) recently released the new definitions for sepsis and septic shock in children, the Phoenix sepsis criteria. The evolution of pediatric sepsis criteria and the introduction of the Phoenix sepsis criteria will be presented in this webinar.

The research methodology behind the Phoenix criteria for sepsis and septic shock, drawing insights from an extensive international data analysis using machine learning approaches and validation across diverse clinical settings, will also be presented. Attendees will gain valuable insights into the potential implications of implementing the Phoenix sepsis criteria in clinical practice, including its role in facilitating clinical management, quality benchmarking, epidemiological surveillance, and research.

Beauden's Sepsis Story

Beauden developed sepsis after scraping his knee while on vacation. His parents are raising awareness by sharing Beauden’s sepsis story.

Help Spread Awareness

Click the below boxes for shareable resource that will help you spread awareness of sepsis in children. Remember when you share on social media to hashtag #PediatricSepsisWeek and tag @SepsisAlliance.

Sepsis and Children Video

Watch and share this video that tells the story of 8-year-old Michael who developed sepsis from an infection and became a quadruple amputee.

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Social Media Infographics

Download these infographics and share them with your social media community. Remember to hashtag #PediatricSepsisWeek and tag @SepsisAlliance.

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Social Media Infographics

Spread the word- #PediatricSepsisWeek

Click on the below infographics to download and share them with your social media community. Remember to hashtag #PediatricSepsisWeek and tag @SepsisAlliance when you do.