Epidemiological data and comorbidities of 428 patients hospitalized with erysipelas.

The aim of this study was to evaluate the epidemiological data and the main comorbidities of patients with erysipelas admitted to a tertiary hospital. All patients admitted due to erysipelas during the period from 1999 to 2008 were included in a prospective and cross-sectional study. The Fisher exact test and logistic regression were used for statistical analysis. A total of 428 individuals were hospitalized with 41 rehospitalizations; 51.17% of the patients were women, the mean age was 58.6 years. The main comorbidities were hypertension (51.6%), diabetes mellitus (41.6%), chronic venous insufficiency (36.2%), other cardiovascular diseases (33.2%) including angina, peripheral arterial insufficiency, acute myocardial infarction, and strokes, obesity (12.1%), chronic renal failure (6.8%), neoplasms (4.9%), cirrhosis (4.9%), chronic lymphedema (4.2%), and leg ulcers (2.6%). Erysipelas is a seasonal disease that affects adults and the elderly people, has a repetitive nature, and is associated with comorbidities.