Author: Chris Holmes, M.D. Educational Pearls “Sepo’ is a term from Homer (author of The Iliad and The Odyssey), and means “I rot”. Hippocrates in 400 BC identified sepsis as a “dangerous decay within the body”. Galen in 200 AD believed pus was “laudable”. The Greeks and Romans used the term “myasma” to describe the smell of swamp and rotting flesh. Dr. Emmanuel Rivers in Detroit did one of the the first big studies about sepsis and was an advocate for goal-directed therapy. Now, Vitamin C cocktails are in use, but new sepsis treatments should be investigated carefully before implementation. References: Funk, Duane J. et al. Sepsis and Septic Shock: A History. Critical Care Clinics , Volume 25 , Issue 1 , 83 - 101