Clicky
National, Back Page

People with diabetes more vulnerable to Covid-19


Published : 26 Oct 2020 09:37 PM | Updated : 27 Oct 2020 01:21 AM

People with diabetes are more likely be at risk of suffering from complications when they are tested positive for Covid-19, reveals a recent report.

A report, prepared by a three-member team of Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering Department of Chattogram University (CU), announce the findings in the report published in an international journal recently.

Professor Adnan Mannan, who led the team, said that people with diabetes disease suffer from severe post-covid physical problems. Another report from the same research team has been finalized to identify basic physical problems in asymptomatic covid infected and critically ill covid patients.

The study was jointly performed by Chattogram Medical College, CU, Chattogram General Hospital and Bangladesh Institute of Tropical and Infectious Diseases have been published in the research article titled, Diabetes and Metabolic Syndrome Clinical Research and Reviews by the international research publishing house Elsevier. The study was done based on data samples taken from 746 corona patients.

About 90 million people in Bangladesh are suffering from diabetes at the moment. About one million people in Chattogram are affected by diabetes. Bangladesh ranks 8th in the world in the number of diabetics.

In the study, it has been found that in Chattogram, one out of every five people affected by covid-19 is diabetic. Among the male aged between 31 and 50 year with diabetics are facing the most physical complications. Covid-19 subsequent reactions are most commonly observed in people with diabetes and heart disease.

The study also found that 75 percent of those with diabetes suffer from some form of long-term reaction after recovering.

Since a significant number of people in the country are affected by diabetes, a large number of them when tested positive for diabetes suffer complications, often beyond imagination.

According to the research report, 1.4 percent of covid patients in Chattogram have been newly diagnosed with diabetes after recovery.  Referring to the New England Journal of Medicine, many people in the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, Italy and Singapore have recently developed diabetes after suffering from coronavirus infection.

The study also says that about 40 percent people with diabetes contracting covid-19 need triple doses of insulin to control their blood glucose or sugar levels.

The report analysis also shows that 90 percent of diabetic patients with covid-19 had fever, 60 percent had cough or coughing tendencies, and 45 percent had muscle pain. More than 60 percent of patients were found to have high levels of ferritin and D-dimer which are types of protein in blood.

The number of asymptomatic people with diabetes is low. Only four percent of diabetic patients showed no signs or symptoms after being infected with Covid-19.

In order to officially consider the results of these studies conducted in Chittagong, the approval of the Bangladesh Medical Research Council BMRC will be required.

Dr Hasan Shariar Kabir, Director of the Health Department of Chattogram, said, “As the disease is very new, we don’t know much about the disease. So, we need much more information about the Coronavirus infection and need to be aware of subsequent complications.”

He added, “Extensive research can provide knowledge and information on these issues, which will play a role in controlling the Corona epidemic.”