Bacteremia and sepsis are common problems in clinical practice. Bacteremia is the presence of bacteria in the blood, hence a microbiological finding. Sepsis is a clinical diagnosis needing further specification regarding focus of infection and etiologic pathogen, whereupon clinicians, epidemiologists and microbiologists apply different definitions and terminology. Knowing these differences is important when reading and interpreting the literature. Studies show a pan-European increase in the rate of bacteremia, both Gram-negative and Gram-positive. Reasons for this are an increase in invasive diagnostics and therapy, going along with increasing age of patients. Bacteremic infections are frequently healthcare related. This article illustrates recent aspects in diagnosis and therapy of sepsis and bacteremia.