COMPLICATIONS OF COVID-19 IN DIABETIC PATIENTS: A LITERATURE REVIEW

Abstract

In a short period of time, SARS-CoV-2 has caused countless deaths, and on January 30, 2020, the World Health Organization officially declared the COVID-19 outbreak a Public Health Emergency of International Concern. This disease portends a poor prognosis, especially in patients with Diabetes Mellitus (DM). The objective of the present study was to identify the possible complications of COVID-19 in diabetic patients, through a descriptive literature review. For inclusion of studies for this review, articles published from 2020 onwards were considered, using the Health Sciences Descriptors: “Diabetes Mellitus”, “Complications” and “COVID-19”. The searches were carried out in the following Databases: PubMed, Scientific Electronic Library Online and Virtual Health Library. DM is associated with several diseases related to the virus, such as decreased blood oxygen saturation, decreased blood pressure and prolonged disease duration; it can also be observed that diabetic patients have a high amount of the leukotriene B4 molecule, which is linked to inflammation and delayed healing in these patients. Therefore, diabetes is a risk factor independent of the severity of COVID-19; therefore, people with DM should reduce their exposure to a possible COVID-19 infection.