Data collected by the US CDC show that in the months following the infection the probability of diabetes diagnosis increases (also happened in Lombardy in 2020): this is also why under-18 vaccination is important.
There is another, very good reason to vaccinate children and young people against Covid-19 in addition to the possibility of protecting them from infection: the very young people who contract the virus have a higher risk of developing diabetes in the following months compared to those who have not met SARS-CoV-2 or have had other acute respiratory infections. The data analyzed by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Americans, just published, which reiterate the importance of active prevention with the vaccine in the under 18s.
Due database
The Covid-19 pandemic has taken a high price to pay for people with diabetes, who have often seen symptoms of metabolic disease worsen or have had more serious consequences from the virus; moreover, diabetes appears to be among the possible long-term complications of Covid-19. Not only that: several studies have indicated an increase in diagnoses of type 1 diabetes during the pandemic among children and young people and also an increase in cases of diagnosis with severe symptoms of ketoacidosis. In Lombardy, for example, there was an increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes in 2020 compared to previous years. The CDC experts have therefore decided to assess the risk of developing the disease in young people, analyzing the data of two databases (IQVIA and HealthVerity) which are slightly different by type of subjects included, but which both record new requests for access to health services in the United States.
Higher incidence of diabetes
In both databases, analyzed for the period from March 1, 2020 to February 26, 2021, the incidence of new diagnoses of type 1 and type 2 diabetes was higher in children and young people who contracted the virus (up to 166 percent more in the IQVIA database), starting one month after infection. The risk remains higher even when comparing the very young people who have had Covid-19 and their peers who in the years preceding the pandemic had had different acute respiratory infections: SARS-CoV-2, therefore, through mechanisms not yet clear, seems to lead to a greater chance of developing diabetes. Despite the limitations of the study (the young people included in the analysis turned to health insurance, for example, and data such as the presence of obesity or pre-diabetes were not evaluated), the results are very clear and the authors emphasize that everything confirms the importance of preventing Covid-19 through vaccination also in children and young people. In addition, they write, It should be borne in mind that diabetes it may be a consequence of the infection: those under 18 who have been infected must be monitored in the following months, so as to promptly diagnose any diabetes.
January 10, 2022 (change January 10, 2022 | 14:41)
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