Type 1 diabetes: Youngsters tested positive for COVID-19 are 60% more likely to develop disease, says study - News9 LIVE

The study used national health registers to examine new-onset type 1 diabetes diagnoses made in all youngsters aged under 18 in Norway (over 1.2 million individuals) over the course of 2 years, starting on March 1, 2020, comparing those who contracted COVID-19 with those who did not.

"Our nationwide study suggests a possible association between Covid-19 and new-onset type 1 diabetes", says Dr Hanne Lovdal Gulseth, lead author and Research Director at the Norwegian Institute of Public Health.

The vast majority of young people who get COVID-19 will not go on to develop type 1 diabetes but it is important that clinicians and parents are aware of the signs and symptoms of type 1 diabetes.

A recent CDC report found that US children were 2.5 times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes following a SARS-CoV-2 infection, but it pooled all types of diabetes together and did not account for other health conditions, medications that can increase blood sugar levels, race or ethnicity, obesity, and other social determinants of health that might influence a child's risk of acquiring COVID-19 or diabetes.

"The exact reason for the increased risk of type 1 diabetes in young people after COVID-19 is not yet fully understood and requires longer-term follow-up and further research into whether the risk could be different in children who are infected with different variants", says Gulseth.

However, several studies have shown that SARS-CoV-2 can attack the beta cells in the pancreas that produce insulin, which could lead to the development of type 1 diabetes.

Another study from Scotland presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes conference that also included young adults found a heightened risk within a month after the viral illness -- but after that, the scientists said, they found no association.

"Though there are a number of credible reasons why COVID-19 might lead to the development of type 1 diabetes, this remains in no way proven," said Jamie Hartmann-Boyce, an associate professor at the University of Oxford's Nuffield department of primary care health sciences.