MINUTES MATTER: Aggressive treatment for sepsis can save lives, research shows. “Every additional hour it takes to give antibiotics and perform other key steps increases the odds of death by 4 percent, according to the study reported at an American Thoracic Society meeting and in the New England Journal of Medicine.” Since I have no spleen, I’m at higher risk for sepsis. As a result, I keep a Levaquin capsule on me, with instructions to take it and rush to the ER if I have the symptoms.