CDC Seeks to Minimize Sepsis Condition Contributing to Over 700 US Deaths Each Day

A medical professional in personal protective equipment pushes a patient, also wearing a face mask, as he lays on a bed, at St Thomas' Hospital in north London, on April 1, 2020, Daniel Leal-Olivas/AFP via Getty Images

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has started a new program that seeks to reduce deaths from sepsis in U.S. hospitals.

Sepsis is a life-threatening condition caused by the body’s extreme response to infection. It requires urgent medical care to ensure that the affected person doesn’t suffer organ or tissue damage, or die. At least 1.7 million adults in the United States develop sepsis in a typical year, and at least 270,000 of those patients die during hospitalization, according to the CDC.