According to a new study,children who had COVID-19 are at a substantially higher risk of developing type 1 diabetes.
According to a new research study that analyzed electronic health records of more than 1 million patients ages 18 and younger, children who were infected with
The findings showed a 72% increase in new diagnoses of T1D in COVID-19 patients 18 years old and younger—although the research emphasized that it is unclear whether COVID-19 triggers new onset of T1D.
Type 1 diabetes was previously known as insulin-dependent or juvenile diabetes. Although it usually develops in children, teens, and young adults, it can happen at any age. Type 1 diabetes is much less common than type 2. In fact, only about 5-10% of people with diabetes have type 1. Currently, no one knows how to prevent type 1 diabetes, but it can be treated successfully.
Nationally, approximately 187,000 children and adolescents younger than 20 live with T1D, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC).
“Type 1 diabetes is considered an autoimmune disease,” said Pamela Davis. She is a corresponding author on the study and Distinguished University Professor and The Arline H. and Curtis F. Garvin Research Professor at the Case Western Reserve School of Medicine. “It occurs mostly because the body’s immune defenses 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 team of researchers analyzed the de-identified electronic health records of nearly 1.1 million patients aged 18 years and younger diagnosed with the
Rong Xu, also a corresponding author, is a professor of Biomedical Informatics at the School of Medicine and director of the Center for Artificial Intelligence in Drug Discovery. She said further research is needed to investigate if the increased risk of new onset T1D following SARS-CoV2 infection in pediatric patients will persist, who are vulnerable, and how to treat COVID-19 associated T1D in children.
“We are also investigating possible changes in development of type 2 diabetes in children following SARS-CoV2 infection,” Xu said.
T1D is most common in children while type 2 diabetes (T2D) is known as “adult-onset diabetes” and develops over time, often as the patient becomes resistant to the effects of insulin and later, as the pancreas stops making enough insulin, according to the CDC.
Reference: “Association of SARS-CoV-2 Infection With New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes Among Pediatric Patients From 2020 to 2021” by Ellen K. Kendall, BA; Veronica R. Olaker, BS; David C. Kaelber, MD, PhD; Rong Xu, PhD and Pamela B. Davis, MD, PhD, 23 September 2022, JAMA Network Open.
DOI: 10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2022.33014
The Case Western Reserve research team also included David Kaelber, professor of Internal Medicine, Pediatrics and Population and Quantitative Health Sciences, and medical students Ellen Kendall and Veronica Olaker.