Definition

1. Adjective:
   • Relating to or characteristic of septicemia: Describes a condition, symptom, or finding associated with the presence of pathogenic organisms or their toxins in the bloodstream, known as blood poisoning.

Usage

• The term septicemic is primarily used in medical contexts to describe conditions, clinical signs, or laboratory results that are indicative of septicemia.
• It often modifies nouns such as 'infection', 'shock', 'phase', or 'curve' (e.g., temperature curve).

Examples

• Adjective:
  • The patient was diagnosed with a septicemic infection following the surgery.
  • A septicemic temperature curve, showing a high and sustained fever, is a classic sign.
  • The plague can manifest in bubonic or septicemic forms.

Advanced Usage

• "Septicemic plague": A specific, often fatal form of plague where bacteria multiply in the blood.
  • Unlike bubonic plague, septicemic plague does not cause swollen lymph nodes but leads to severe systemic infection.

Variants and Related Words

• Septicemia (n): The medical condition itself; blood poisoning.
  • The patient developed septicemia from the wound.
• Septic (adj): More general term meaning infected with microorganisms, especially bacteria, or relating to sepsis.
  • The wound became septic.

Synonyms

• Blood-poisoned (adj): Informal term for septicemic.
• Bacteremic (adj): Specifically having bacteria in the bloodstream (a condition that can lead to septicemia).

Related Phrases

• Septicemic shock: A severe, life-threatening condition where septicemia leads to dangerously low blood pressure and organ failure.
  • The progression to septicemic shock requires immediate intensive care.

Adjective

1. characteristic of septicemia
   • a septicemic temperature curve