- Early on in the COVID-19 pandemic, each passing month brought new concerns over comorbidities
- The most pressing concern was the risk of severe COVID-19 infection associated with diabetes
- Now, that focus has shifted to the long-term health implications for patients, including the increased type 1 diabetes risk
Is COVID-19 Infection Linked to New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes?
It has long been suspected that type 1 diabetes, which is usually diagnosed in younger people and is associated with the failure of the pancreas to produce insulin, is a result of an over-responsive immune reaction, possible due to a viral infection, including respiratory viruses (1✔ ✔Trusted SourceIncidence of New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes Among US Children During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic
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Several recent case reports have suggested a link between new onset type 1 diabetes and COVID-19 infection in adults. But evidence is more limited in children.
A recent CDC report found that US children were 2.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes following a SARS-CoV-2 infection, but it pooled all types of diabetes together and did not account for other health conditions, medications that can increase blood sugar levels, race or ethnicity, obesity, and other social determinants of health that might influence a child’s risk of acquiring COVID-19 or diabetes.
In this nationwide study, researchers linked individual-level data from national health registries for all children and adolescences in Norway. Children were followed from March 1st 2020 (the start of the pandemic) until diagnosis of type 1 diabetes, they turned 18 years old, death, or the end of the study (March 1st 2022), whichever occurred first.
Researchers examined the risk of young people developing new-onset type 1 diabetes within or after 30 days after PCR-confirmed SARS-CoV2 infection. They compared this group with children and adolescents in the general population who did not have a registered infection, as well as to a group of children who were tested but found to negative for the virus.
COVID-19 and diabetes mellitus: from pathophysiology to clinical management
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After adjusting for age, sex, country of origin, geographical area and socio-economic factors, the analyses found that young people who contracted COVID-19 were around 60% more likely to develop type 1 diabetes 30 days or more after infection compared to those without a registered infection or who tested negative for the virus.
References:
- Incidence of New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes Among US Children During the COVID-19 Global Pandemic - (https://jamanetwork.com/journals/jamapediatrics/fullarticle/2788283)
- COVID-19 and diabetes mellitus: from pathophysiology to clinical management - (https://www.nature.com/articles/s41574-020-00435-4)
Source-Medindia