Monday marks the start of Sepsis Awareness Month, and MedStar Health reports that too many still don’t know about it and its symptoms.

Nearly half of adults either have no idea what it is or have never heard of it, according to a recent national survey by MedStar Health.

One Baltimore sepsis survivor had it when he was a teen. He said if his mom didn’t know the red flags, things could’ve turned out very differently.

What is sepsis?

When Andrew Bossi was 13, he got a bad case of poison ivy, saying he was covered in rashes from the neck down.

“It was one of the worst cases I’ve ever had,” Bossi said.

It led to a lot of scratching, and before all of that healed, Bossi had a baseball game where some cuts got exposed to the dirt.

The day after that game, he and a friend were walking to his house when it hit him.

“I just all of a sudden felt like I hit this wall, and it was exhaustion. Just really feeling odd,” Bossi said. “I woke up feeling 100%.”

Bossi only got worse, starting to shiver and get cold sweats. He eventually ended up in the emergency room, where he made a full recovery.

Dr. Miriam Fischer, MedStar Health’s lead doctor on sepsis, describes that sepsis happens “when that infection goes to the next level.”

She said it’s a life-threatening condition where your body’s response to an infection starts to harm your tissues and organs.

But, Fischer said, most cases are treatable and preventable.

Knowing the signs helps, but MedStar’s survey also found nearly 50% of adults aren’t confident they can recognize the signs of sepsis.

To remember the warning signs, Fischer recommends looking at how sepsis is spelled:

• S for shivering and fever
• E for extreme pain and discomfort
• P for pale, discolored, sweaty skin
• S for sleepiness, confusion, or disorientation
• I for an “I feel like I might die” feeling
• S for shortness of breath

“Experts believe that as many as 80% of sepsis deaths could be prevented if treated in time. So, knowing what to look for and presenting early diagnosis, treatment makes an impact,” Fischer said.

Bossi said his mom knowing the signs and getting him help immediately really helped his case.

“It could’ve been a really different story if I just didn’t say anything, stayed in bed, my mom didn’t come home after work for a little bit or something like that,” he said. “That could’ve been a really bad situation.”