The aim of this study was to evaluate the prevalence of mortality and causes of death of patients hospitalized due to erysipelas. The in‐hospital mortality rate of patients with erysipelas in Hospital de Base, São José do Rio Preto was evaluated for the period from 1999 to 2008 in a retrospective cross‐sectional study. The cause of death, gender, age and length of hospital stay were analyzed. The Fisher exact test was utilized for statistical analysis with an alpha level of 5% (p‐value < 0.05) being considered acceptable. A total of 219 women and 209 men with a mean age of 58.6 years were hospitalized with erysipelas. Of these, 1.7% of the patients died (5 women and 2 men); 3 patients on the first day of hospitalization, one on the 2nd, one on the 10th, one on the 11th and one on the 12th day after admittance. The causes of death were neoplasms (3 patients), pneumonia (2), sepsis (4), renal failure (1), cirrhosis (1) and purulent pericarditis (1); some patients had concomitant comorbidities. Of these, neoplasm, pneumonia and sepsis were significantly associated with death. Erysipelas is not a lethal disease when adequate treatment is provided, however ey words: Erysipela, comorbities, prevalence. comorbidities can cause death

Acute bacterial skin infections with different presentations and varying gravity are very common (1‐3). The severity of streptococcal infections depends upon the virulence of individual strains with the most important species being the beta‐hemolytic group A streptococci (GAS) (2). Cellulitis should be clinically distinguished from erysipelas and necrotizing fasciitis. Leg erysipelas and cellulitis occur in every 1000 individuals per year.

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