Why Is This Important?

Septicemia is an infection that happens when bacteria or other germs enter the bloodstream and spread throughout the body. That can trigger sepsis, which is the body's reaction to the infection. Septicemia was the ninth leading cause of death among New Jersey residents and fifteenth in the U.S. in 2020.

Definition

Deaths with septicemia as the underlying cause of death. ICD-10 codes: A40-A41 Septicemia refers to the presence of a pathogen in the blood, whereas sepsis is the condition that is caused by the pathogen. In the context of mortality, if the cause of death is septicemia, sepsis is implied.

Data Notes

Data Sources

• Death Certificate Database, Office of Vital Statistics and Registry, New Jersey Department of Health
  (https://www.nj.gov/health/vital/)
• Population Estimates, State Data Center, New Jersey Department of Labor and Workforce Development
  (https://www.nj.gov/labor/labormarketinformation/demographics/population-household-estimates/)
• Underlying Cause of Death, CDC WONDER On-line Database, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention
  (https://wonder.cdc.gov/Deaths-by-Underlying-Cause.html)

How the Measure is Calculated

• Numerator:

  Number of deaths due to septicemia

• Denominator:

  Estimated number of persons in the population

Health Topic Pages Related to: Deaths due to Septicemia

• Leading Causes of Death