Maha Assadoon: Can IV Iron Be Safely Used During Infection?
Maha Assadoon, Critical Care Clinical Pharmacist at King Abdulaziz Medical City, shared a post on LinkedIn about a recent article by Haris Sohail et al., published in Blood, adding:
“In medicine, it is common to hear not to give iron therapy during active infections. This essential came from in-vitro experiements showing that iron promotes bacterial growth.
Guidelines inluding Comprehensive Cancer Network (NCCN) and the European Society for Medical Oncology (ESMO) have recommeded holding IV iron therapy during acute systemic infections.
However, a recently published study in the American Society of Hematology – Blood journal have broke this urban legend.
A retrospective, real-world study of IV iron use to treat iron deficiency anemia during acute infection
This was a restrospective, propensity matching study from January 2000 to June 2025.
Adult patients with iron deficiency anemia and an active infection were included.
The primary outcome was the survival at 14 and 90 days after the index date.
The study found IV administration of iron therapy in comparison to no iron treatment was associated with:
- Improved 14 and 90 days mortality
- Better hemoglobin recovery with no increase in length of stay, and less days with transfusion.”
Title: A retrospective, real-world study of IV iron use to treat iron deficiency anemia during acute infection
Authors: Haris Sohail, Jennifer E Collins, Kok Hoe Chan, Mohammad Ahsan Alamgir, Amir Kamran

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