The grading of sepsis.

A simple system for grading the severity of sepsis has been developed by scoring the attributes of sepsis under four headings: local effects of infection, pyrexia, secondary effects of sepsis and laboratory data. The information needed should be readily available at district general hospital level. The system produces a number which indicates the severity of sepsis and which varies with the patient's condition. This system could be useful in comparing patients with sepsis and studies on such patients in different centres.