Summary of key criteria used in sepsis detection algorithms
| Clinical observation | qSOFA* | NEWS2 Consider infection | Red Flag NEWS3+possible infection One from lists below | SIRS* | St John sepsis algorithm | |||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | Red | Amber | ||||
| Respiration Rate | ³22 | 21–24 | ≥25 | 25 | 21–24 | >20 | >21 | |
| 9–11 | <8 | |||||||
| O2 Saturation | – | 94–95 | 92–93 | <91 | <91 | – | – | – |
| Supplemental O2 | – | Yes | >92 with supp O2 | – | – | – | ||
| Temperature, °C | – | 35.1–36.1 | <35 | – | <36 | <36.0 or >38.0 | <36.0 or >38.3 | |
| 38.1–39.0 | ³39.1 | |||||||
| Systolic blood pressure | <100 | 101–110 | 91–100 | <90 | <90 | 91–100 | <90 | |
| >220 | ||||||||
| Heart rate | – | 41–50 | <40 | >130 | 91–130 | >90 | >95 | |
| 91–110 | 111–130 | ³131 | ||||||
| Level of consciousness | GCS<13 or AMS | ACVPU | ACVPU | Concern | – | – | ||
| Lactate | – | – | – | – | ³2.0 mmol | – | – | ³2.0 mmol |
| Glucose mg/dL | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | >140 and <200 |
| Fluid balance | – | – | – | – | No urine 18+ hours or <0.5 mL/kg/hour | No urine 12–18 hours | – | – |
| White cell count | – | – | – | – | – | – | >12 k or <4 k or band >10% | >12 k or <4 k or band >10% |
| Creatinine mg/dL (μmol/L) | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | Increase of 0.5 over 72 hours |
| Bilirubin mg/dL | – | – | – | – | – | – | – | <2.0 and < 10.0 |
*SIRS and qSOFA have previously been included in sepsis diagnostic criteria; in this report, we focus on the use of these tools as prediction/alerting algorithms.
ACVPU, alert, confusion, voice, pain, unresponsive; AMS, altered mental status; GCS, Glasgow Coma Score; NEWS, National Early Warning Score; qSOFA, quick Sepsis-related Organ Failure Assessment ; SIRS, systemic inflammatory response syndrome.