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Even though corticosteroid immunosuppressive and anti-inflammatory medications are commonly prescribed, little is known about the risk for infection associated with such treatment. To fill this knowledge gap, researchers conducted a population-based cohort study using general practice records in the UK's Health Improvement Network database from 2000 through 2012. The researchers compared diagnoses between 275,000 adults who had been prescribed corticosteroids and 626,000 who had not been prescribed corticosteroids.
Hazard ratios were significantly higher among glucocorticosteroid recipients versus non-recipients for cutaneous cellulitis (2.21), herpes zoster (2.37), bloodstream infection (3.96), candidiasis (4.93), and lower respiratory trac…