Latin American Consensus on the Management of Sepsis in Children: Sociedad Latinoamericana de Cuidados Intensivos Pediátricos [Latin American Pediatric Intensive Care Society] (SLACIP) Task Force: Executive Summary

Sepsis is one of the main causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide.1 In the US, for example, sepsis is the most important cause of inpatient mortality and consumes more than 24 billion dollars per year.2 A large study published in 2017 estimated 48.9 million sepsis cases around the world, of which 20.3 million were in children under five years old. Eleven million people died of sepsis, representing 19.7% of global deaths. Of these deaths, 2.9 million were in children under five years old and 454,000 were in children between five and 19 years old. Sepsis incidence and mortality vary widely between the different regions of the world, with a greater burden in Sub-Saharan Africa, Oceania, South Asia, East Asia and Southeast Asia.3