Mechanistic Inflammatory Sub-study Embedded Within the Albumin vs Balanced Crystalloid Trial

MIS-ABC Sepsis is a sub-study looking to understand how the immune response in patients with infection changes during the early stages of the illness, as well as after intravenous fluid treatment. Participants in the main trial will be given one of two types of fluid (Human Albumin Solution (HAS) and Balanced Crystalloid) via a drip when they present to the hospital with severe infection (sepsis). The main trial is assessing which fluid is better, and we are going to take three blood samples around the time people come to hospital to see what happens to their immune system as a result of the infection and fluid treatment. We hope our findings will explain why one fluid might be better than another. It may also give us an important information about whether we can predict which people might get sicker despite treatment.