Blood Illness Higher in Diabetes Patients

Blood infections should be a concern for patients with diabetes. A Danish studyindicated that patients with diabetes are at greater risk of blood infection caused bymicrobes called enterobacteria. In the current study, the researchers evaluated diabetesas a risk factor for enterobacterial blood infections in 1317 patients with bloodinfections and 13,170 individuals without infection.

The results of the study found that diabetes patients are 3 times more prone todevelop blood infections, compared with patients without diabetes. Patients withdiabetes under 65 years of age and those who were female were at increased risk.The research also showed that enterobacterial blood infections were more fatal inpatients with diabetes, compared with patients without diabetes. (The findings werereported in Clinical Infectious Diseases, February 15, 2005.)