septicemia, septictemia

(sep"ti-se'mi-ah) [G. sepsis, putrefaction, haima, blood.] systemic disease caused by the presence of microorganisms or their toxins in the circulating blood; the infecting germ may be one of the pus organisms, the pneumococcus, typhoid bacillus, col i bacillus, or other pathogenic bacterium, crypto gen'ic s., a form of s. in which no primary focus of infection can be found, hemorrhag'ic s., a term applied to a group of animal diseases, not transmi ible to man, caused by a number of closely related bacteria, called collectively Bacillus plurisepticus. mouse s., a disease of mice caused by Bacillus murisepiicus. puer'peral puerperal fever, septic infection occurring in women rabbits caused by Bacillus cuniculicidus. s.