Anyone diagnosed with diabetes has a tendency to develop infections simply because their immune systems have difficulty fighting off invaders.
Researchers at GlaxoSmithKline Vaccines in Philadelphia, United States, looked at the records of a large number of individuals treated for skin and other soft tissue infections in order to determine the extent of infection in diabetics.
Their study, reported on in PLoS One in April 2013, included 2,227,401 infections.
Ten percent took place in people who had been diagnosed with Type 1 or Type 2 diabetes.
Sixty-six percent of the infections in diabetics were:

• abscesses,
• infections surrounded by normal tissue, and
• cellulitis, a skin infection.
  

Among people diagnosed with infections in outpatient settings, diabetics had over 5 times the number of complications as non-diabetics.
Among those infections diagnosed in hospital, 25 percent of diabetics and 16 percent of non-diabetics suffered from infections in the bloodstream or heart.
From this information, it was concluded that preventing skin and soft tissue infections in diabetics is an important way to avoid serious medical problems.
Skin with cellulitis has a reddish appearance.
If it is allowed to progress, diabetics can develop fevers and enlarged lymph nodes.
There are several ways of preventing it.

• individuals who handle fish, meat, poultry, or soil need to wear gloves and wash their hands.
  
• skin injuries, such as a cuts, burns, or bites, should be washed and covered with a bandage.
  
• injecting illegal drugs should be avoided.
  Insulin and other prescribed medications should be injected into clean sites.
  
• legs with edema, or fluid buildup, should be elevated whenever possible.
  eczema, psoriasis, and fungal infections such as athlete's foot, should be cared for according to the dermatologist's directions.
  Using mild lotions or oatmeal baths can help to control itching and the urge to scratch.
  

Cellulitis is usually caused by staph or strep, two common kinds of bacteria.
Treatment consists of antibiotics.
Abscesses are easy to recognize.
They are tender, inflamed masses, red around the edges and white at their centers.
The white centers are formed by pus, which can ooze from them.
Like acne, they are caused by oil glands that become blocked.
Left to their own devices they can spread and patients can develop a fever and general feeling of illness.
Abscesses should be treated promptly by:

• incision,
• drainage, and
• antibiotics.
  

Once the lesion has been drained, it is flushed and packed with sterile gauze.
Patients usually feel better once the abscess has been drained.
Further growth of the abscess, development of more pus, red streaks, or fever should be reported to your attending doctor.
Here's to staying infection-free.