My little sister (she’s 17) was admitted to the hospital yesterday with a fever of 104. After a gamut of tests they determined that she had infection in her blood, kidney, bladder and liver.
Now my question is, how does something like this happen? She had her wisdom teeth pulled a few weeks ago and ended up with dry sockets. Could she have gotten the infection that way? Her doctor believes that the infection started in her blood and made it’s way to her other organs, but I just can’t figure out how one gets a blood infection. I can ask him tomorrow when he makes his rounds, but I just wonder if any of you have any ideas?
READ ANSWERS, or add one!
I think a dry socket could be a very likely source. Even with a dry socket, there is some blood flow to the area and bacteria gets into the blood stream from the mouth all the time (even minor things like brushing your teeth). The body is usually good at taking care of a little bacteria from your mouth, but if you have a lot from an infection-seems very probable to me.
If her immune system is low and there was bacteria in her mouth from her wisdom teeth being pulled she could have got sepsis from that. Maybe her mouth wasn’t kept 100% clean due to the pain from her gums. Hope she gets better soon.
When I had my heart worked on, I found out that dental work and dental infections are the main source of systemic infections like that.
Dry sockets means she lost the blood clots in her sockets after the surgery. The reason it’s so painful is because it exposes the nerves underneath, but it’s also dangerous because it leaves the blood supply vulnerable to all the bacteria in the human mouth. And yes, when people drag out that old saw about a human mouth being dirtier than a dog’s mouth, they aren’t kidding. Our mouths are host to a lot of really nasty bacteria. Generally, we don’t get sick because the only place for them to go is down our digestive tract, but if they find another way into the body while they are in the mouth, they can cause a lot of problems.
There is one thing which makes me wonder, however, and that’s the fact that her bladder and kidneys are infected. It’s not uncommon for an untreated, asymptomatic bladder infection to move to the kidneys. If it becomes entrenched, it can move to the blood and to other organs–the poor liver is so close that it tends to catch things from the kidneys very easily.
And just so you know, any infection can turn septic–even a small scratch on the skin can allow in bacteria which end up in the bloodstream. I do think it’s most likely it came either from her urinary tract or from her dental work, however.
Luckily, she’s young, which means she’s strong, and she’s already in the hospital. They will give her IV antibiotics until things are cleared up. Sepsis tends to be most dangerous when it isn’t caught promptly. It sounds like this has been caught before it gets completely out of hand.
Here’s hoping she recovers quickly and completely.