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However, supplementation of iron has been linked to increased rates of serious infection in randomised trials of children in sub-Saharan Africa. Randomised trials in other settings have been inconclusive and it is unknown if changes in levels of iron biomarkers are linked to sepsis in\u00a0these other settings. We used genetic variants associated with levels of iron biomarkers as instrumental variables in a Mendelian randomisation (MR) analysis to test the hypothesis that increasing levels of iron biomarkers increase the risk of sepsis. In observational and MR analyses we found that increases in iron biomarkers increase the odds of sepsis. In stratified analyses, we show that this risk may be larger in those with iron deficiency and\/or anaemia. 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