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In Reply.
—I appreciate your interest in our article and thank you for your comments on the possible role of hypomagnesemia in bacteremic patients.As you noticed from our article, we raised the possibility that magnesium deficiency contributed to hypocalcemia.Since our study was retrospective and data on magnesium levels were scanty, we could not afford the luxury of speculating on the possible origins of a presumed magnesium deficiency. Specifically, there was no alcohol abuse in any of our patients (alcoholism is a rare problem in Israel), and diabetes mellitus or diuretic administration were equally distributed between the bacteremic and nonbacteremic groups.A prospective study is definitely required to determine the relative role of hypomagnesemia in the production of bacteremic hypocalcemia.