IV Iron during Acute Infection: Is the Concern Justified?

Patients with active infection may frequently have concurrent iron deficiency anemia. However, iron is a growth factor for certain microorganisms, so experts discourage giving patients with active infection intravenous (IV) iron to treat their anemia. (see Figure 1) While this makes sense, is IV iron in this context really that problematic?

To address this question, investigators performed a retrospective analysis of nearly 340,000 hospitalized patients with iron deficiency anemia who were also receiving antibiotics for an active infection (bacteremia, pneumonia, urinary tract infection, colitis, or cellulitis).