Alcohol consumption has a nonlinear J-shaped dose–response association with the risk of acquiring and dying due to bacterial infection and pneumonia, where moderate consumption between one-half and four UK units per day is not associated with bacterial infection, but both lower and higher consumption is associated with higher risks.

It seems that the level of alcohol consumption needed to increase the risk of bacterial infection is higher than what increases the risk of other conditions.

This supports the growing evidence that bacterial infection may be considered a lifestyle disease, and, if our findings are replicated, that lifestyle interventions may lower the risk of bacterial infection.

Among 58,078 cohort participants followed for 23 years, 23,035 participants were diagnosed with an infection and 4,030 died from infection.

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