Sepsis in Kids: It’s Not a Small Problem

Mary Kate Abbadessa is the Clinical Nurse Specialist in the Emergency Department (ED) at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (CHOP). She completed undergraduate and graduate studies at Villanova University, earning a Bachelor of Science in Nursing and a Master of Science in Nursing Education, as well as a Post-Master’s certificate from the Pediatric Critical Care Clinical Nurse Specialist program at the University of Pennsylvania. She joined the CHOP ED in 2009, with past experience in pre-hospital and adult emergency care, as well as pediatric PACU and neonatal nursing. Ms. Abbadessa’s clinical and research interests include the care of the child with fever, resuscitation, and trauma. Ms. Abbadessa has been the ED nursing clinical champion for sepsis since 2012, serves as the nursing lead for CHOP’s Pediatric Sepsis Program and the co-lead for the hospital’s sepsis governance committee for quality improvement. Ms. Abbadessa is an active member of the Children’s Hospital Association’s Sepsis Collaborative and a 2018 recipient of the Erin’s Campaign for Kids Nursing award for Sepsis.

Scott L. Weiss, MD, MSCE, FCCM is Division Chief of Critical Care and Vice-Chair for Research in the Department of Pediatrics at Nemours Children’s Hospital (DuPont)-Delaware and Professor of Pediatrics & Pathology and Genomic Medicine at the Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University.  He has served as the co-Vice Chair for the Pediatric Surviving Sepsis Campaign for the 2020 and 2026 iterations, and has published widely on pediatric sepsis recognition, management, and pathology. Dr. Weiss’ research focuses on epidemiology and mitochondrial dysfunction in pediatric sepsis, including risk factors, biomarkers, and mechanisms of sepsis-induced immune dysregulation and organ dysfunction.  He is also the co-PI of the multinational Pragmatic Pediatric Trial of Balanced versus Normal Saline fluid in Sepsis (PRoMPT BOLUS).