Authors' objectives:

To summarise the available evidence on afelimomab for sepsis.

Authors' recommendations: - Clinical impact: The clinical impact associated with the introduction of afelimomab initially appears small and needs further assessment when trial results are fully published. However afelimomab is a new treatment for a patient group that has a very high mortality (50-80%) and any benefit may be clinically significant. - Service impact: It is likely that there will be some service impact associated with the introduction of afelimomab as intensive care staff will need to consider treatment and target treatment to those with high IL-6 levels. - Additional factors: There are unlikely to be any significant additional factors associated with the introduction of afelimomab, although patients and their carers will probably welcome this therapeutic option. - Financial and overall NHS impact: Due to the lack of cost data and detailed estimates of patient group, it is difficult to determine the financial impact of introducing afelimomab for severe sepsis and septic shock at this time. However the numbers of patients currently using costly health services, and eligible for consideration of therapy is significant.

Authors' methods: Overview

Project Status: Completed

Year Published: 2002

URL for published report: http://www.hsric.nihr.ac.uk/search

English language abstract: An English language summary is available

Publication Type: Not Assigned

Country: England, United Kingdom

Organisation Name: NIHR Horizon Scanning Centre

Contact Address: The NIHR Horizon Scanning Centre, Department of Public Health, Epidemiology, and Biostatistics, School of Health and Population Sciences, University of Birmingham, 90 Vincent Drive, Edgbaston, Birmingham, B15 2SP. United Kingdom. Tel: +44 121 414 7831, Fax: +44 121 2269

Contact Name: c.packer@bham.ac.uk

Contact Email: c.packer@bham.ac.uk

Copyright: National Horizon Scanning Centre (NHSC)