US popstar Madonna has been admitted to intensive care for several days after contracting a "serious bacterial infection" on Saturday.
According to her manager, Guy Oseary, the singer is expected to make a full recovery, but she will need to put all her commitments on hold for the moment.
In a post on Instagram, Oseary wrote: "On Saturday June 24, Madonna developed a serious bacterial infection which led to a several-day stay in the ICU (intensive care unit). Her health is improving, however she is still under medical care. A full recovery is expected.
"At this time we will need to pause all commitments, which includes the tour. We will share more details with you soon as we have them, including a new start date for the tour and for rescheduled shows."
Madonna's upcoming Celebration Tour of North America and Europe was scheduled to begin next month in Canada, marking her four-decade-long career.
What are bacterial infections and when can they become serious?
While it's not known how Madonna became ill, doctors say infections are normally can caused by harmful bacteria that enter the body through cuts, bug bites, contaminated food, or when bacteria multiplies in parts of the body where it shouldn't be.
These infections can affect various parts of the body, including the skin, blood, brain, and lungs. While some bacterial infections may cause mild symptoms, others can lead to serious complications, including life-threatening sepsis.
Different types of bacteria tend to infect specific organs. Common bacterial infections that require antibiotics can include pneumonia, chest infections, urinary tract infections, and skin infections such as cellulitis.
Symptoms of bacterial infections vary depending on the location of the infection but may include a high fever, shivering, shaking, lethargy, redness, swelling, soreness, and pus.
Dr. Ron Daniels, founder and joint CEO of the UK Sepsis Trust, highlighted the risks of sepsis, an extreme response of the body to infections, which can be triggered by some bacterial infections. In the UK, sepsis affects around 245,000 people each year and claims up to 48,000 lives.
“Most of the common infections we’ve heard about that require antibiotics are bacterial, and they will include pneumonia, chest infection, and urinary tract infection. Problems in the abdomen, such as a burst ulcer will often be complicated by bacterial infection too,” he said. “And then things like cellulitis, skin infections are commonly caused by bacteria.”
What syptoms to look out for
If individuals or their loved ones experience symptoms such as slurred speech, confusion, extreme pain in muscles or joints, lack of urine, severe breathlessness, mottled or discoloured skin, they should seek immediate medical help.
Most bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics taken at home. However, if sepsis develops, hospital treatment is necessary. In severe cases, patients may need to be admitted to intensive care for multi-organ support.
“With any infection, potential symptoms could be a raised temperature, so a high fever which could also be associated with violent shivering and shaking,” said Dr Suhail Hussain, a personal physician and private home visiting GP. “And oddly, you may feel very cold as well. Your pulse may go up – an indication of your body trying to cope – and blood pressure may be affected. You could feel lethargic too. But when things escalate and your cardiovascular system is compromised, this will put you at risk of something called sepsis.”
What is recovery like
While there is a good chance of survival with prompt and correct treatment, there can be long-term effects after recovering from sepsis, including cognitive dysfunction, physical problems, and psychological consequences such as PTSD.
If the infection has started via the skin or near the skin’s surface, there will often be obvious indicators such as redness, swelling, soreness and pus in the affected area.
Most bacterial infections can be treated with antibiotics that can be taken at home, according to Dr Sunny Jutla, a specialist digital clinician at Medichecks and consultant in emergency medicine.
“But if you develop sepsis, you need to be treated in a hospital. In this case, you would receive IV antibiotics and fluids. Patients that are incredibly unwell would also need to be admitted to intensive care, where they would receive multi-organ support,” Jutla added.
With the correct and prompt treatment for sepsis, there is a very good chance of survival. “But the reality is, even in a developed country like the UK, still around one in five people who develop sepsis will not survive that illness,” Dr Daniels added – which is why getting appropriate medical help as quickly as possible is vital.
And for people who do survive, there can be long term after-effects too. This can include cognitive dysfunction, like brain fog. “There are also physical problems, most commonly fatigue, lack of ability to exercise, brittle nails and hair and even psychological consequences including PTSD.” Daniels used the term ‘post sepsis syndrome’ to describe this.
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