sepsis

Etymology

coined by Hippocrates From Ancient Greek σῆψις (sêpsis, “putrefaction”), from σήπειν (sḗpein, “to make rotten”), from σήψ (sḗps, “a kind of lizard; also a kind of serpent whose bite was alleged to cause putrefaction”).

noun

1. (pathology) A serious medical condition in which the whole body is inflamed, causing injury to its own tissues and organs as a response to infection.
   Imagine the sepsis of helpless loathing [Jimmy Connors] must have inspired in his opponents during his "great runs" at the US Open. 1994, Martin Amis, New Yorker, reprinted in The Rub of Time (NY: Knopf, 2017), pp. 213-14