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.

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 23rd!

Check back for more details on this webinar. Find previous pediatric sepsis-focused webinars by clicking here and searching “pediatric.”

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.

 

 

 

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**These materials are the sole property of Sepsis Alliance. These materials are meant to be shared and used for educational and awareness raising purposes only. The materials cannot be reproduced and sold for monetary value. When used for educational and awareness raising purposes, the materials must be used as follows:

  • The materials must be used in their original unaltered state, that includes not adding alternate logos, websites, or additional graphics, etc.
  • The Sepsis Alliance logo and any other logo on the material must be clearly visible
  • The trademark(s) (™)must be clearly visible
  • The copyright must be clearly visible
  • Do not add any logo to the materials, unless you have been given prior approval from Sepsis Alliance
  • The Sepsis: It’s About TIME™ logo cannot be reproduced and used without the approval of Sepsis Alliance

If you are interested in co-branding any of the materials presented, please contact Alex Sadorf at asadorf@sepsis.org for pricing information.

Bug Coloring Book

Download this printable coloring book to help children learn about preventing infections. Infection prevention is sepsis prevention™!

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Bug Coloring Pages

Download printable coloring pages featuring Bug.

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Bug Coloring Pages

Bug1 – Kaleidoscope Bug
Click here to download

Bug 2 – Rainbow Bug
Click here to download

Bug 3 – It’s Bug
Click here to download

Download all pages

Fact Sheet

Make sure you have all the latest facts about sepsis and children. Click below to download our most recent Sepsis and Children fact sheet.

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Sepsis and Children Information Guide

Click below to download this easy to print guide about sepsis and children.

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Children

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Infographic Poster

Click below to download this infographic poster that can be printed or added to your website, with proper attribution.

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Faces of Sepsis: Children

Trevor Buckmaster

Went in on Tuesday 9/3rd 2024 because my son had a deer tick on his back. The ER doctor sent us away because there was no bull’s-eye on his back. He said if he gets high fever get back to the ER. Sunday 9/8/24 we headed back into the ER because Trevor had a high fever. The doctor started treating him with Tylenol and amoxacillin. His heart was working over time because of the high fever. Trevor was back to himself. Doctor want to see if he could find a bed. I said no, if he has another high temperature ... Read Full Story

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Braxton Bumgarner

Braxton is a 13-year-old 7th grader. 5 months ago on August 1, 2024, he said his knee hurt. The next day, it hurt worse, so his Dad took him to urgent care. The doctor basically told him he didn’t really know what pain was even though he said it was a 10. My husband asked if it could be an infection and he said no, he wasn’t showing any signs, even though he never did anything other than an x-ray. He told us to rotate Motrin and Tylenol for the pain. 2 days later we took him to our local ... Read Full Story

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Mateo Rodriguez-Limon

My son Mateo went septic a month before his 2nd birthday. He complained of a pain in his knee and after a 6 hour visit to our local hospital with no outcome we took him to to the children’s hospital. They discovered osteomyelitis in his tibia and within hours he was in full septic shock.He had contracted strep A with no clue how he was not sick and he didn’t have any open wounds. (Sepsis and Group A Streptococcus, Sepsis and Septic Shock) He spent the next 5 weeks in the PICU where they did multiple different treatments to save ... Read Full Story

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Promise Selepe

Blessing was only 6 months when she started being sick. She was irritated and crying nonstop. We went to a general practitioner and she said she was teething. We went home later that night. When I was changing her diaper, I noticed her right leg was swollen I thought it’s nothing serious. I thought it was swollen because of the measles vaccine she got. The following day I noticed she was getting worse so we decided to take her to the local clinic where they sent us to the local hospital. When we got the hospital, while waiting to the ... Read Full Story

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Ryan Lines

Ryan was a active, happy one year old perfect little boy. A month after his birthday Ryan woke up with a snotty nose. Throughout the day he still seemed his happy self. By that afternoon he was having slight temperatures and was starting to not be himself, he was very clingy and wimping, quiet dazed and also wouldn’t weight bear which he had been walking for a few months. We took him to the hospital to be released with that he probably had a virus and just teething. The next morning we noticed Ryan still wasn’t improving so went back ... Read Full Story

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