Lebanese Ministry of Information
The autoimmune disease inhibits the body’s ability to produce insulin
Covid-19 could be linked to the onset of type 1 diabetes in children, a study has suggested, after finding some hospitals saw twice as many young patients with the condition compared to normal.
A growing body of evidence has suggested the autoimmune disease which inhibits the body’s ability to produce insulin may develop alongside the virus.
However, researchers at Imperial College London say they may have found the first evidence of a potential link between the two in children after studying patients at four North-West London NHS Trusts – some of which saw significant spikes in diabetes admissions.
Supervising author Dr Karen Logan, of Imperial College Healthcare NHS Trust, said “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 in northwest London compared to previous years, and when we investigated further, some of these children had active coronavirus or had previously been exposed to the virus.
Dr Logan added: “We believe this study is the first to show a potential link between Covid-19 and the development of type 1 diabetes in some children.
“Our study was limited to one UK region and more research is needed to establish whether there is a definitive link between the two, but in the meantime we hope clinicians will be mindful of this potential link.”
