Bacterial infection in cirrhotic patients and its relationship with alcohol

TO THE EDITOR: We read with interest the study by Rosa et al. on bacterial infection in cirrhotic patients and its relationship with alcohol (1). Their study included 128 cirrhotic patients, 78 of whom were alcoholic and 50 of whom were nonalcoholic. The infection and mortality rate was greater in alcoholic cirrhotics, but the difference in infection rate did not reach statistical significance. The authors concluded that bacterial infections are more common in cirrhotics irrespective of etiology.