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Diabetes & Infection Risks

Patients with diabetes are more susceptible to developing and dying from infectious diseases than the general population, notes JoAnn Deasy, PA-C, M.P.H., a practitioner with California Emergency Physicians at San Mateo General Hospital. Some infections are more common in people that have diabetes, while other infections are almost exclusive to diabetic patients.

  1. Staphylococcus Aureus

    • Staphylococcus aureus is usually known as staph. This type of bacteria is found on the skin and inside the nose in 11 percent of non-diabetic people but in 30 percent of diabetics, according to Medscape. Staph can develop into a serious infection if the skin is damaged or if there is other injury to the body.

      Medicine Net warns that people with diabetes are at high risk of developing a staph infection. Skin-related infections are the most common form of disease, but serious infections occur in other areas of the body if staph enters the bloodstream. The disease causes pneumonia and abscesses within the lungs, a disease called osteomyelitis that is characterized by inflammation in the bones, and endocarditis, which is an infection of the cardiac system that leads to heart failure.

    Rhinocerebral Mucormycosis

    • Rhinocerebral mucormycosis is a disease that primarily affects diabetics. The eMedicine website indicates that the disease was 100-percent fatal before 1955, when an antifungal medication called amphotericin became available. Even with medical care, the disease causes 80-percent mortality if it infects the brain. Early symptoms are vague and generalized, such as headache, fever and nausea. Later, the patient develops blurred vision, eye pain, or even blindness. Neurological symptoms such as seizures and dizziness appear as the infection progresses. The tissue around the nose sometimes turns black and decays. According to eMedicine, the disease progresses rapidly and death is possible within two weeks after onset of the disease. Amphotericin B and surgical removal of infected tissue are used to treat the illness.

    Foot Infection

    • According to eMedicine, foot infections are one of the most common infections in people with diabetes. This happens because of circulatory problems that often occur as a secondary result of diabetes. There are a wide variety of diabetic-related foot infections. Cellulitis, for example, is a bacterial infection that causes swelling and inflammation of the skin. More serious infections such as osteomyelitis infect the bone marrow in the feet. Osteomyelitis is difficult to treat and requires a procedure called debridement, which is removal of the decaying tissue, or amputation if the situation is too severe. Cellulitis is treated with antibiotics.

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