Effective Antibiotic for Maternal Sepsis Saves Healthcare Costs, Study Finds | Newsroom

An international cost-effectiveness study, led by researchers at the UNC School of Medicine and the Kinshasa School of Public Health, has found that an effective antibiotic used to combat maternal sepsis vastly reduces health-care costs for pregnant patients.Sepsis is one of the leading causes of maternal death—and the most expensive to treat worldwide.Sepsis occurs when a bacterial infection spreads from one organ to the entire bloodstream. The life-threatening condition often requires hospitalization, a rapid response team, and a fast-acting antibiotic to prevent further damage to the body. And it adds up. The direct costs of sepsis care can be physically and financially catastrophic for patients and families, especially those in low- and middle-income countries.But a new cost-effectiveness study, led by Jackie Patterson, MD, MPH and Melissa Bauserman, MD, MPH (both associate professors of pediatrics at the UNC School of Medicine), colleagues at the University of Kinshasa School of P...