What are the direct costs of sepsis treatment in Brazilian ICUs?

Severe sepsis and septic shock are characterized by a high incidence, mortality and cost. Actually, sepsis is a major healthcare problem, upheld by the resources consumed to care for patients with this disease. Although we are aware of the high total hospital costs associated with sepsis treatment, even post discharge, the heterogeneity of the health care system (private or public hospitals) makes any estimate of costs directly attributable to sepsis a real challenge. Besides direct and indirect costs, 'hidden costs' like education, staff training and comorbidity-related issues can be significant in a major disease. Direct costs are defined mainly by the physicians and nursing fees, medicines, blood products and equipments used for monitoring and organ dysfunction support in sepsis. This simplified type of economic analysis can provide more reliable and interchangeable data.