Nikhil Prasad Fact checked by:Thailand Medical News Team Jan 21, 2026 3 weeks, 5 days, 14 hours, 10 minutes ago
Medical News: When COVID-19 first appeared, doctors quickly learned it could seriously worsen existing illnesses. A new large national study has now shown just how dangerous the virus can be for people hospitalized with diabetic ketoacidosis, a severe and life-threatening diabetes complication. This
Medical News report highlights findings that reveal sharply higher death rates, more organ failure, and far greater strain on hospitals when COVID-19 and diabetic ketoacidosis occur together.
COVID-19 infection massively increases death and complications in diabetic ketoacidosis patients
Understanding diabetic ketoacidosis in simple terms
Diabetic ketoacidosis, often called DKA, happens when the body lacks enough insulin to use sugar for energy. As a result, it starts breaking down fat, producing acids called ketones that build up in the blood. This can quickly lead to dehydration, breathing problems, kidney failure, coma, and death if not treated fast. Even before the pandemic, DKA caused hundreds of thousands of hospital admissions every year in the United States.
How the study was carried out
Researchers analyzed national hospital data from across the United States covering the years 2020 and 2021. In total, they examined more than 658,000 adult hospitalizations involving DKA. About 69,000 of these patients were also infected with COVID-19. The research team came from Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center in El Paso, Rutgers Health Community Medical Center in New Jersey, the University of Arizona, and Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine.
COVID-19 dramatically raises the risk of death
The results were striking. Among DKA patients without COVID-19, about 3 percent died in hospital. But when COVID-19 was also present, the death rate jumped to more than 21 percent. Even after adjusting for age, existing illnesses, and hospital factors, COVID-19 increased the risk of death more than six times. This means the virus itself plays a major role in worsening outcomes, not just the patient’s underlying health.
More organ failure and intensive care needs
Patients with both conditions were far more likely to suffer serious complications. They had higher rates of acute kidney injury, severe infections like sepsis, and respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation. Many also needed drugs to support dangerously low blood pressure. On average, these patients stayed in hospital nearly four extra days and generated more than fifteen thousand US dollars in additional hospital costs per admission.
Type 1 diabetes faces extra danger
The study also found that people with type 1 diabetes had more than double the risk of dying compared to those with type 2 diabetes when DKA and COVID-19 occurred together. Older age, multiple chronic illnesses, large hospital settings, and Hispanic ethnicity were linked to higher mortality, while women showed a modest survival advantage in COVID-related DKA.
gt;Conclusions and real world meaning
These findings show that DKA combined with COVID-19 is not just a routine emergency but a high-risk medical crisis that overwhelms the body and healthcare systems. Early recognition, aggressive treatment, and rapid access to intensive care may save lives. Public health planning must treat this combination as a priority during future viral outbreaks, especially for vulnerable diabetes patients.
The study findings were published in the peer reviewed of Diabetes Investigation.
https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/jdi.70217
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Read Also:
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/diabetes
https://www.thailandmedical.news/articles/coronavirus
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