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Kyle Busch wasn’t a typical pneumonia or sepsis patient. But in a statement, the family of the 41-year-old NASCAR champion cited both as causes of his death on May 21.

For a young, healthy person — who is also physically fit, as race car drivers must be — to succumb to these conditions is unexpected, said Bradley Sharpe, MD, a hospitalist at UCSF Health who did not treat Busch but talked in general about the conditions.

Tolls of Pneumonia and Sepsis

Community-acquired pneumonia (CAP) accounts for 1.2 million emergency department visits and more than 41,000 deaths annually in the US. Most vulnerable are children younger than 1 year and adults older than 65 years. When pneumonia strikes older adults, they are often frail, with other medical conditions, Sharpe said, and can fare more poorly.

Sepsis — defined as an overwhelming response to an infection — is also common, with the CDC estimating at least 700,000 cases a year in the US.

“That’s probably an under representation,” said Amit “Bobby” Mahajan, MD, a critical care physician and interventional pulmonologist at Inova Health System in Fairfax, Virginia, and national medical spokesperson for the American Lung Association.

So common is sepsis — and so potentially dangerous — that the CDC initiated an educational effort for healthcare providers and consumers called Get Ahead of Sepsis. “The CDC is trying to make physicians aware of sepsis in early stages so that appropriate treatment can be initiated,” said William Schaffner, MD, professor of infectious diseases at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine in Nashville, Tennessee, and a spokesperson for the Infectious Diseases Society of America.

Like Sharpe, Schaffner and Mahajan did not treat Busch but talked to Medscape Medical News about how best to manage the conditions.

The grim statistics are offset by better news — hospitalists and other providers can turn to updated research and guidance to recognize and treat both conditions earlier and save lives. Hospitalists play a major role in caring for patients with CAP, Sharpe said.

Antibiotics: Type and Timing Matter

There’s a growing realization that most patients with CAP do not need broad-spectrum antibiotics, Sharpe said, but can be treated with routine pneumonia antibiotics.

“Guideline-recommended antibiotics for patients in the hospital with CAP include a beta-lactam + azithromycin or a beta-lactam + doxycycline vs fluoroquinolone. If the patient has severe pneumonia, it should be ceftriaxone and azithromycin.”

Under the guidelines, systemic corticosteroids can be given for severe CAP not caused by influenza pneumonia.

Timing of antibiotics matters, said Sharpe.

“The best evidence is in those with septic shock,” he said.

Septic shock, the most dangerous stage of sepsis, occurs when the infection causes a dangerous chain reaction in the body that can result in organ dysfunction.

“They should get antibiotics within an hour of presentation of septic shock,” Sharpe said. “There’s some evidence that the same may be true of those with sepsis.”

The International Surviving Sepsis Campaign, international guidelines published in 2026, have the most up-to-date guidance, Sharpe said.

Averting Sepsis

Preventing sepsis and septic shock often means going “old school,” said Mahajan, who is also medical director of Inova’s interventional pulmonology and complex airway disease program. “In a world of being able to look at vitals and labs on a computer and not having to go see the patient as often, if there is a question about sepsis, go and see that patient and do a physical exam,” he said.

“Patients who have septic shock or are in sepsis have specific findings,” he said, including fever, shortness of breath in terms of work of breathing, and not just a low oxygen saturation. Patients’ lower extremities are warm, and patients have low blood pressure. “A physical exam is very important with regard to the question of sepsis or septic shock.”

If there is any suspicion of sepsis or septic shock, consult with a higher level of care, Mahajan said. “Call in the ICU for an evaluation,” he advised, to make those providers aware. “At the end of the day, we really want to be proactive.” That’s true even if patients look healthy, he said.

Lifesaving interventions can make a difference, Mahajan said, citing not only ventilators but also extracorporeal membrane oxygenation to maintain blood pressure and then hope that the antibiotics will “catch up.”

Delays Matter

Younger patients who don’t fit the typical pneumonia or sepsis stereotype may put off care, Sharpe said, reasoning that they’re generally healthy and will get better soon. “ER [emergency room] providers talk about these patients waiting too long and ‘falling off the cliff’ when they come to the ER,” Sharpe said.

From the patient’s point of view, it’s understandable. “When someone is young and can compensate for a long time, they won’t necessarily feel that sick” until the illness gets much worse, Mahajan said. Older patients with comorbidities and less reserve tend to present more quickly in the course of the disease, he said.

Prevention Approaches

Schaffner reminds healthcare providers to talk to patients about the importance of vaccines to prevent infections — not just the vaccine for pneumonia prevention for those eligible but also to stay up-to-date with influenza, COVID, and respiratory syncytial virus (if eligible) vaccines.

Educating patients about how to seek help sooner rather than later is also crucial, Schaffner said. Tell patients, for instance, if they have a cough, sputum production, or shortness of breath, to seek medical care.

Those symptoms are easy to ignore, as Schaffner well knows. About 10 years ago, he had numerous professional commitments and ignored the symptoms he knows he should have paid attention to — weakness, sleepiness, a cough, and a slight fever — until his wife booked him an appointment. Diagnosis: pneumonia, treated with antibiotics that produced relief within 48 hours.

Since then, he said, “I’ve been even more passionate about counseling my patients” to get medical help sooner than later.

Thanks to educational efforts such as the CDC’s campaign, Schaffer said, he thinks awareness about the conditions and the importance of early treatment has increased, not just among hospitalists and internists but also among emergency department physicians.

Sharpe and Schaffner reported having no disclosures. Mahajan reported having no relevant disclosures.