eMJA: In other journals - 4 February 2002

A retrospective review of hospital patients with bacteraemia has found reduced mortality among those taking statins. The study, from the United States, involved 368 male veterans and two women with bacteraemic infections caused by aerobic gram- negative bacilli or Staphylococcus aureus. Although the 35 patients (9%) who were taking statins were more likely than those not taking statins to have diabetes, hypertension and coronary artery disease, they had significantly lower rates of death from any cause (6% v 28%; P = 0.002), and attributable to the infection (3% v 20%; P = 0.01). The authors suggest that this may result from the effects of statins on the inflammatory process. This interesting finding will need to be confirmed in a prospective study.