The EU grant of 90 million kronor is distributed amongst 17 centres in ten European countries and is led from the Netherlands. The project aims to take a holistic approach to understanding the molecular mechanisms behind post-sepsis complications and to identify new treatment options and follow-up models. Through Adam Linder’s research group, Lund is the sole Swedish site involved and plays a key role in several of the sub-projects; he has been allocated SEK 5 million specifically for his part of the work.
A recognition
For Adam Linder, Professor of Infectious Diseases and Senior specialist at the Department of Infectious Diseases at Skåne University Hospital in Lund, the grant is also a recognition of a patient group that has long been overlooked.
“When I started at the Infectious Diseases Clinic in 1999, nobody talked about post-sepsis complications. We thought we had cured a critically ill patient and restored them to full health, but that wasn’t the case,” says Adam Linder.
Post-sepsis refers to the problems that can follow the acute illness: new infections, cardiovascular problems, kidney damage, cognitive difficulties, brain fog, anxiety or depression. For many, their working life and everyday life at home are also affected.
Greater emphasis
What has made the strongest impression on Adam Linder are the stories from patients and their relatives describing how difficult it can be when no one really understands what is causing their symptoms.
"This is a very large and very misunderstood group of patients whom we can actually help quite easily, provided we understand who is at risk of which complication and why", he says.
Adam Linder has been trying to set up a dedicated post-sepsis clinic since 2015. So far, there has been a lack of knowledge, structure and resources. With the EU grant, he hopes the issue will be given greater emphasis in discussions on how to improve follow-up care after sepsis. Experience from post-COVID care could provide an important starting point. In Lund, there is already a system in place for bringing together patients with long-term consequences following severe infection, and this structure could contribute to the next step in post-sepsis care.
Lund: the Swedish node
Adam Linder regards the fact that Lund is the only Swedish site in the project as significant, even beyond his own research group. It places both Lund and Skåne within a European network focusing on an issue where healthcare still has much room for development.
"I see this grant as a major recognition and, in fact, a paradigm shift in post-sepsis care".