Virus takes toll on diabetics

AUTHORITIES have revealed that a recent surge of Covid-19 infections tied to the highly contagious Omicron variant had an especially devastating impact on millions of Indonesians with diabetes, with the chronic illness being the most common comorbidity associated with coronavirus deaths in the past two months.

Despite Omicron’s perceived milder symptoms, some 4,200 people nationwide have died since the Omicron-fuelled wave struck Indonesia in early January, with some 46% having underlying medical conditions, according to Coordinating Maritime Affairs and Investment Minister Luhut Panjaitan.

“On average, patients with comorbidities died only five days after being treated at a hospital. We found that diabetes is the most prevalent underlying health condition among (these patients),” Luhut, who leads the Covid-19 response in Java and Bali, said recently.

Various foreign studies suggest that diabetes has caused an increased fatality rate among Covid-19 patients.

The Coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 and Diabetes Outcomes (Coronado) study conducted in France last year found that some 20% of patients with diabetes who were hospitalized for Covid-19 died within 28 days of admission, while a study by the United States’ Centres for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) showed that 40% or more of the people who died with Covid-19 in the early days of the pandemic also had diabetes.

A 2021 World Health Organisation report, analysing Covid-19 data from 13 countries in Africa, revealed that the fatality rate among people with diabetes was twice as high as the fatality rate among patients suffering any other comorbidities.

Soebagijo Adi Soelistijo, an endocrinologist from the Indonesian Society of Internal Medicine (PAPDI), said Covid-19 fatalities could be seven times higher among those with diabetes than those who did not have the disease.

“Those with diabetes are more prone to contracting Covid-19, more likely to develop severe symptoms and die if infected, and more likely to develop post-Covid-19 conditions after they recover,” he said.

He said diabetic people were more susceptible to developing infections, including Covid-19, because high blood sugar levels can weaken the patient’s immune system.

People with uncontrolled diabetes, he said, also produced lots of inflammation-inducing cytokine cells that might worsen with coronavirus infections, leading to a life threatening condition called “cytokine storm”.

Diabetics are also more prone to blood clotting, a condition that could be exacerbated by Covid-19. — The Jakarta Post/ANN