WHO tells patients to seek urgent care for sepsis warning signs
Sepsis has returned to public attention after two very different cases: Roy Hernandez said actor Daveigh Chase died on 16 June after meningitis and blood infections led to sepsis, while Visma-Lease a Bike performance head Mathieu Heijboer said Wout van Aert needed surgery on an infected elbow to prevent possible sepsis before the Tour de France. The medical lesson is broader than either case. The World Health Organization defines sepsis as a life-threatening immune response to infection that can cause organ dysfunction, shock and death if it is not treated quickly. The WHO says warning signs include fever or low temperature, confusion, difficulty breathing, clammy skin, severe body pain, weak pulse or low blood pressure, and reduced urination. For Belgian readers, the practical point is simple: suspected sepsis is an emergency, not a wait-and-see infection.
This is most relevant for Belgian patients, parents, carers, older residents, people with chronic illness, athletes and anyone helping someone whose infection suddenly worsens. The World Health Organization says sepsis can affect anyone with an infection, but risk is higher for older people, newborns, pregnant or recently pregnant women, hospital patients and people with weakened immune systems. In Belgium, the practical threshold is emergency recognition: confusion, breathing difficulty, clammy skin, severe pain, weak pulse or low urine output should trigger urgent medical care.
Daveigh Chase (US actor, 1990-2026, best known for Lilo & Stitch and The Ring) is the celebrity death that pushed sepsis back into entertainment news. Roy Hernandez (Chase's boyfriend, identified in reports around her final illness) is the person cited for her reported medical course. Wout van Aert (Belgian cyclist from Herentals, born in 1994, a Tour de France stage winner and Paris-Roubaix winner) is the Belgian sports figure in the current sepsis discussion. Visma-Lease a Bike (Dutch WorldTour cycling team that employs Van Aert) withdrew him from his Tour de France build-up. Mathieu Heijboer (Visma-Lease a Bike performance head) described the team's medical concern. The World Health Organization (UN health agency founded in 1948) sets global public-health guidance. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign (international critical-care guideline initiative) publishes treatment recommendations for clinicians.
Background
Sepsis has been a formal global health priority since 2017, when the World Health Assembly adopted Resolution WHA70.7 on improving prevention, diagnosis and clinical management. The modern Sepsis-3 definition was published in JAMA in 2016, reframing sepsis as life-threatening organ dysfunction caused by a dysregulated response to infection. The Lancet's 2020 Global Burden of Disease analysis estimated 48.9 million sepsis cases and 11 million sepsis-related deaths worldwide in 2017. The Surviving Sepsis Campaign's 2021 guidelines reinforced early recognition, antimicrobials, fluids and escalation for shock.
Why now
The subject is timely because two high-profile references landed together in mid-June 2026: Roy Hernandez's account of Daveigh Chase's death after infection-related sepsis and Mathieu Heijboer's account of Van Aert's infected elbow surgery before the Tour de France.
What to watch
Watch for Visma-Lease a Bike's Tour de France selection and any further team medical update on Van Aert's recovery. On the public-health side, watch whether Belgian health bodies or hospitals use the renewed attention for sepsis-awareness messaging around emergency symptoms and wound infections.
Sources & evidence
- HLN lead: Actrice Daveigh Chase overleed eraan en het houdt Wout van Aert uit de Tour
- World Health Organization: Sepsis fact sheet · 2024-05-03
- World Health Organization: Global report on the epidemiology and burden of sepsis · 2020-09-08
- Rudd et al., Global, regional, and national sepsis incidence and mortality, 1990-2017, The Lancet · 2020-01-18
- Evans et al., Surviving Sepsis Campaign international guidelines 2021, Intensive Care Medicine · 2021-10-02
- The Guardian: Daveigh Chase, child star known for Lilo & Stitch and The Ring, dies aged 35 · 2026-06-17
- People: Daveigh Chase, Child Actress in The Ring and Lilo & Stitch, Dies at 35 · 2026-06-17
- Cyclingnews: Wout van Aert could have contracted sepsis · 2026-06-17