Methods for determining a patient's susceptibility of contracting a nosocomial infection and for establishing a prognosis of the progression of septic syndrome

A method comprising:

• a) obtaining blood samples from a human patient with septic shock at multiple time points after septic shock onset, at least one of the time points being between 7 and 10 days after septic shock onset;
• b) extracting nucleic acids from the blood samples;
• and
• c) measuring an overexpression of the S100A8 gene relative to a predetermined threshold value in at least the blood sample(s) obtained between 7 and 10 days after septic shock onset, the threshold value being indicative of either a healthy subject or a non-surviving septic shock patient,
• wherein the overexpression is measured via an amplification method comprising the use of a first primer consisting of SEQ ID NO:
• 3 and a second primer consisting of SEQ ID NO:
• 4.