Hospital patients with drink problems are at an increased risk of contracting a hospital acquired infection (HAI) and are more likely to die from such an infection than their peers, the results of a new study indicate.

A HAI is an infection that a patient acquires during their hospitalisation that was not present at the time of admission. It can include anything from MRSA to pneumonia.

US researchers looked at people with alcohol use disorders (AUDs), which include alcohol dependence and alcohol abuse. They evaluated patients with two types of HAI - pneumonia and sepsis, a serious bacterial infection. They assessed the patients' mortality, hospital length of stay and hospital costs....