International and national guidelines are available to help guide healthcare professionals in managing sepsis.
Surviving Sepsis Campaign (SSC)
Founded in 2002 by the Society of Critical Care Medicine (SCCM) and the European Society of Intensive Care Medicine (ESICM), the Surviving Sepsis Campaign is composed of international experts appointed by the ESICM and SCCM, who serve on both a steering committee and a research committee.
The first guidelines for physicians were published by the SSC in 2004 to help guide the treatment of patients with sepsis and septic shock. These guidelines have been updated regularly ever since, with the most recent revision published in 2021.
In 2020, pediatric guidelines were also introduced, alongside specific guidelines for COVID-19 (which were subsequently updated in 2021).
HAS Guidelines
In France, a working group composed of representatives from around fifteen medical societies and the patient group France Sepsis Association has developed guidelines for the management of sepsis in newborns, children, and adults, under the coordination of Djillali Annane, a member of the SRLF.
These guidelines were approved by the Board of the HAS (French National Authority for Health) on January 29, 2025, and published on the HAS website on February 10, 2025.
Unique in their scope, they cover all three phases of an integrated pathway of care:
- Pre-emergency care,
- The acute phase,
- The post-acute period through to social and professional reintegration.
Medical societies composing the working group: Collège national des généralistes enseignants (CNGE), Groupe de pathologies infectieuses pédiatriques (GPIP), Groupe francophone de réanimation et urgences pédiatriques (GFRUP), Société de pathologie infectieuse de langue française (SPILF), Société de réanimation de langue française (SRLF), Société française d’anesthésie réanimation (SFAR), Société française d’hygiène hospitalière (SF2H), Société française de gériatrie et gérontologie (SFGG), Société française de médecine d’urgence (SFMU), Société française de médecine physique et de réadaptation (SOFMER), Société française de microbiologie (SFM), Société française de mycologie médicale (SFMM), Société française de néonatologie (SFN), Société française de pédiatrie (SFP), Société française de santé publique (SFSP), World Alliance Against Antibiotic Resistance (WAAAR), France Sepsis Association