Governor Stein Proclaims Sepsis Awareness Month

Sepsis Awareness Month 

2026

By The Governor Of The State Of North Carolina

A Proclamation

Whereas, September has been nationally recognized as Sepsis Awareness Month by Sepsis Alliance to bring awareness to the serious and potentially fatal medical condition known as sepsis; and

Whereas, sepsis results from an overwhelming immune response to infection, whereby immune chemicals released into the blood to combat infection trigger widespread inflammation; and

Whereas, sepsis can be treated with immediate diagnosis and care, but the condition must be treated as a medical emergency because it quickly contributes to tissue damage and organ failure; and

Whereas, each year sepsis is responsible for at least 350,000 deaths in the United States, with young children and the elderly experiencing the greatest number of sepsis-related deaths; and

Whereas, sepsis ranks as the third-leading cause of death in the U.S. and sepsis would rank higher than chronic lower respiratory diseases, stroke, Alzheimer’s disease, diabetes, and accidental deaths and is the most expensive cause of hospitalization in the United States; and

Whereas, despite the severe danger and widespread occurrence of this illness, a survey conducted by Sepsis Alliance (www.sepsis.org) found that only about 12 percent of U.S. adults know the symptoms of sepsis;

Now, Therefore, I, Josh Stein, Governor of the State of North Carolina, do hereby proclaim September 2026 as “Sepsis Awareness Month” in North Carolina and commend its observance.

In Witness Whereof, I have hereunto set my hand and affixed the Great Seal of the State of North Carolina at the Capitol in Raleigh this twenty-seventh day of August in the year of our Lord two thousand and twenty-sixth and of the Independence of the United States of America the two hundred and fifty-first.