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The cases of type 1 diabetes in children in a small UK study nearly doubled during the peak of the UK Covid-19 epidemic, suggesting a possible link between the two diseases that needs further investigation, officials said on Tuesday. scientists.
Although the study is only based on a handful of cases, it is the first to link Covid-19 and newly-onset type 1 diabetes in children, and doctors should be on the lookout, the researchers said. from Imperial College London.
“Our analysis shows that during the peak of the pandemic, the number of new cases of type 1 diabetes in children was unusually high in two of the hospitals (which we studied) compared to previous years,” said Karen Logan, who co-led the study. .
“When we conducted a more in-depth investigation, some of these children had active coronavirus or had previously been exposed to the virus.”
Logan said previous reports from China and Italy noted children being diagnosed in hospitals with newly emerged type 1 diabetes during the pandemic.
The study, published in the journal Diabetes Care, analyzed data from 30 children in London hospitals diagnosed with newly-onset type 1 diabetes during the first peak of the pandemic – roughly double the number of cases seen during this period. the previous years.
Twenty-one of the children have been tested for Covid-19 or have had antibody tests to see if they have been exposed to the virus – and five have tested positive for a new coronavirus infection.
Type 1 diabetes causes insulin-producing cells in the pancreas to be destroyed, preventing the body from making enough insulin to regulate blood sugar. The Imperial team said a possible explanation could be that the spike protein from the novel coronavirus could attack insulin-producing cells in the pancreas.
“More research is needed to determine if there is a definitive link, … but in the meantime, we hope clinicians will be aware of it,” Logan said.
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