Increased Incidence of Type 1 Diabetes during the COVID-19 Pandemic in Romanian Children

• Main Authors: Adrian Vlad, Viorel Serban, Romulus Timar, Alexandra Sima, Veronica Botea, Oana Albai, Bogdan Timar, Mihaela Vlad
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Published: MDPI AG 2021-09-01
• Series: Medicina
• Subjects: type 1 diabetes; COVID-19; incidence
• Online Access: https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/57/9/973

<i>Background and Objective</i>: It is known that several viruses are involved in the pathogenesis of type 1 diabetes. Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) is a new worldwide spread virus that may act as a trigger for the autoimmune destruction of the β-cells, as well, and thus lead to an increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes. <i>Material and Methods:</i> The Romanian National Organization for the Protection of Children and Adolescents with Diabetes (ONROCAD) has collected information regarding new cases of type 1 diabetes in children aged 0 to 14 years from all over the country since 1996 and has computed the incidence of type 1 diabetes in this age group. <i>Results:</i> We observed a marked increase in the incidence of type 1 diabetes in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, with 16.9%, from 11.4/100,000 in 2019 to 13.3/100,000 in 2020, much higher compared to previous years (mean yearly increase was 5.1% in the period 1996–2015 and 0.8% in the interval 2015–2019). The proportion of newly diagnosed cases was significantly higher in the second half of 2020 compared to the second half of the previous years (57.8 vs. 51%, <i>p</i> < 0.0001). <i>Conclusions:</i> All these aspects suggest the role that SARS-CoV-2 could have in triggering pancreatic autoimmunity. To confirm this, however, collecting information from larger populations from different geographical regions, monitoring the incidence curves over a period of several years, and gathering background information on COVID-19 and/or data on COVID-19 specific antibodies are needed.