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Infection is a major source of morbidity and mortality in patients with SLE. The prevalence of infection in SLE is different in various countries and is due to many factors.

The aim of our study was to evaluate the incidence of various infections in Iranian SLE patients and its contribution to mortality during a 21 years period (1974–97).

We evaluated retrospectively 1165 patients for 21 years. For each patient 266 parameters were systemically checked. Each episode of infection was evaluated according to the organic involvement, type of infection and the infective agent, presence of steroid therapy.

During this 21 years period 393 infection episodes were noted in 224 patients. The total follow-up time was 820 years (mean: 3.66). The mean interval between the beginning of the illness and the occurrence of the infectious episode was 3.4 years. Urinary tract infection (UTI) was the …