Definition

1. Noun:
   • A severe systemic infection: "Blood poisoning" is a serious medical condition where harmful bacteria or other pathogens enter and spread through the bloodstream from an initial site of infection.

Usage

• The term "blood poisoning" is a non-technical, common name for the medical condition formally known as sepsis or septicemia. It describes a critical, body-wide response to an infection.
• It is typically used in general conversation or initial descriptions of a patient's condition, while healthcare professionals use more precise clinical terms.

Examples

• Noun:
  • The cut on his leg became infected and led to blood poisoning.
  • Early symptoms of blood poisoning can include fever, chills, and a rapid heart rate.
  • She was hospitalized immediately after the doctor diagnosed blood poisoning.

Advanced Usage

• "to develop blood poisoning": to progress into this condition.
  • If the wound is not properly cleaned, you could develop blood poisoning.
• "a case of blood poisoning": an instance of this illness.
  • The hospital treated several cases of blood poisoning last month.

Variants and Related Words

• Sepsis (n): The modern clinical term for the life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated host response to infection. This is the more precise synonym for "blood poisoning."
• Septicemia (n): A specific, older medical term often used interchangeably with sepsis, referring to the presence of pathogens in the blood.
• Bacteremia (n): The presence of bacteria in the blood, which may or may not lead to sepsis (blood poisoning).
• Toxemia (n): Blood poisoning specifically by toxins from bacteria, sometimes used in the context of certain infections.

Synonyms

• Sepsis: (Clinical synonym)
• Septicemia: (Medical synonym)
• Systemic infection: (Descriptive synonym)

Related Phrases

• Blood infection: A simple, descriptive phrase with a similar meaning.
  • The doctors were concerned about a possible blood infection.

Notes

• "Blood poisoning" is an informal term. In modern medical contexts, sepsis is the preferred and more accurate term to describe this complex, potentially fatal condition. The phrase effectively conveys the idea of an infection "poisoning" or spreading through the blood.

Noun

1. invasion of the bloodstream by virulent microorganisms from a focus of infection