Two new studies suggest a possible link between COVID-19 infections and new diagnoses of type 1 diabetes, but one study says that the infection itself may not be to blame. Here’s what scientists found. Another study published in Diabetes Care found that the COVID-19 infection itself may not be to blame.*

A possible link

A team of scientists based out of Cleveland, Ohio wanted to see if COVID-19 was linked with a higher risk of type 1 diabetes in children. They studied two groups of young people, aged 18 years old or younger. One group had been infected with COVID-19 between March 2020 and December 2021, and the other had a non-COVID respiratory infection during that same time.

The team’s findings, published in JAMA Network Open, found that the group diagnosed with COVID-19 showed higher rates of new diagnoses of type 1 diabetes than those who had a non-COVID infection. The results suggested that those with a COVID infection were almost twice as likely to be diagnosed with type 1 diabetes and to be diagnosed months later than those who had a different infection.

“Families with a high risk of type 1 diabetes in their children should be especially alert for symptoms of diabetes following COVID,” said the authors, “and pediatricians 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.” 

Considering other factors

A different study, conducted by Helen M. Colhoun, the University of Edinburgh’s chair of Medical Informatics and Life Course Epidemiology, and her colleagues found somewhat conflicting results.

Her study, published in Diabetes Care, included data from over 1.8 million people under the age of 35. Of the people studied, more than 365,000 of them had COVID-19 infections, and of those, almost 1,100 developed type 1 diabetes.

While the authors acknowledged an increase in rate, they caution against being too quick to blame the virus directly, when other factors may be in play. Research into the possible link is still early, and additional studies are needed to fully understand what the relationship might be between COVID-19 and new type 1 diabetes diagnoses.

“We need to consider what has happened regarding the spread of viruses,” said Paul McKeigue, study investigator and professor from the University of Edinburgh and Public Health Scotland, “and whether there are any other environmental factors, such as sunlight exposure and vitamin D levels, that might have altered during the lockdown that might also be relevant.”

*Studies Debate Link Between COVID-19 and Increased Type 1 Diabetes Diagnoses. (2022, September 24). Endocrinology Network. Retrieved October 3, 2022, from https://www.endocrinologynetwork.com/view/studies-debate-link-between-covid-19-and-increased-type-1-diabetes-diagnoses