To describe the clinical and epidemiological features of patients with and without sepsis at critical care units of a public hospital. As methods: A cross-sectional study was carried out from May 2012 to April 2013. Clinical and laboratory data of patients with and without sepsis in the intensive care units were reviewed of medical records. Results: We evaluated 466 patients, 58% were men, median age was 40 years, and 146 (31%) of them were diagnosed with sepsis. The overall mortality was 20% being significantly higher for patients with sepsis (39%). The factors associated with intensive care unit mortality were the presence of sepsis (OR: 6.1, 95%CI: 3.7-10.5), age (OR: 3.6, 95%CI: 1.4-7.2), and length of hospital stay (OR: 0.96, 95%CI: 0.94-0.98). Pulmonary (49%) and intra-abdominal (20%) infections were most commonly identified sites, and coagulasenegative staphylococci and enteric Gram negative bacilli the most frequent (66%) pathogens isolated. It concluded that, Although the impact of sepsis on mortality is related to patients’ clinical and epidemiological characteristics, a critical evaluation of these data is important since they will allow the direct implementation of local policies for managing this serious public health problem.