Table 1.

Operational Definitions of Infection Severity

	Definition
Inflammation	All of the following (if available) must be true: No imaging diagnostic for infection Negative local culture (when available) Negative blood culture Fluid/tissue without evidence of infection
Local Infection	At least one of the following must be true: Imaging diagnostic for infection in one anatomic site Local culture positive AND/OR fluid/tissue consistent with infection* One positive blood culture
Disseminated Infection	At least one of the following must be true: Imaging diagnostic for infection in multiple anatomic sites AND/OR multiple compartments Two or more positive blood cultures Two or more positive tissue cultures from multiple anatomic sites Thromboembolic disease

^*grossly purulent, cell count >50,000