A study of over 1.1 million patients aged 18 years and younger has found a link between Covid-19 and type 1 diabetes diagnoses.
Researchers found that young people who contracted Covid-19 were more prone to developing type 1 diabetes in the six months following their diagnosis. Families at high risk of developing type 1 diabetes should be alert for symptoms of the condition in their children following Covid, the researchers say.
While it is unclear whether Covid-19 triggers an onset of type 1 diabetes, it was found that under-18s who have had the virus showed a 72 percent increase in new diagnoses of the chronic disease soon after.
"Type 1 diabetes is considered an autoimmune disease," said Pamela Davis, corresponding author and Distinguished University Professor and The Arline H. and Curtis F. Garvin Research Professor at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine.
She added: "It occurs mostly because the body's immune defences attack the cells that produce insulin, thereby stopping insulin production and causing the disease. COVID has been suggested to increase autoimmune responses, and our present finding reinforces that suggestion."
The research was carried out by the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine and was published in the journal JAMA Network Open on Friday 23 September. Researchers looked at electronic health records of more than 1 million young patients
The study population was then broken down into two groups: patients up to age 9 years and those age 10-18 years. After careful statistical matching to account for age, demographics and family history of diabetes, there were 285,628 in each group for a total of 571,256 patients.
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Of the more than 571,000 left after the statistical matching, the study found that within six months of a Covid infection, 123 patients (0.043 percent) had received a new diagnosis of type 1 diabetes.
This is compared to 72 patients (0.025 percent) who received a new diagnosis following a non-COVID respiratory infection, an increase of 72 percent in new diagnoses.
"Families with high risk of type 1 diabetes in their children should be especially alert for symptoms of diabetes following COVID, and paediatricians should be alert for an influx of new cases of type 1 diabetes, especially since the Omicron variant of COVID spreads so rapidly among children," Davis said. "We may see a substantial increase in this disease in the coming months to years.
"Type 1 diabetes is a lifelong challenge for those who have it, and increased incidence represents substantial numbers of children afflicted."
The researchers are also investigating possible changes in development of type 2 diabetes in children following a Covid-19 infection.
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