The COVID-19 Pandemic Increased the Incidence of New-Onset Type One Diabetes in Children

• Published in: Children (Basel) 2024-01, Vol.11 (2), p.142
• Main Authors: Blumenfeld, Orit, Rozenshmidt, Mikhail, Eini, Idan, Laron, Zvi
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Age groups; children; Children & youth; COVID-19; COVID-19 vaccines; Development and progression; Diabetes; epidemiology; Health aspects; incidence; Infection; Pandemics; Pediatrics; public health; Resveratrol; Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2; Statistical analysis; Type 1 diabetes; Vaccination; Viral infections; Virus diseases; Viruses
• ISSN: 2227-9067; 2227-9067
• DOI: 10.3390/children11020142

: The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence rate of childhood type 1 diabetes (T1D) is controversial. Our aim was to analyze the incidence of new-onset T1D among children aged 0-17 before and during the COVID-19 pandemic in Israel. : Data obtained from the national T1D registry for children aged 0-17 were analyzed for the pre-pandemic (1997-2019) and pandemic (2020-2022) periods. In the pre-pandemic period, 7246 children with newly diagnosed T1D were compared with 1490 children diagnosed during the pandemic period. : T1D incidence significantly increased in the 0-17 age group from a mean of 12.9/10 (pre-pandemic) to 17.7/10 and 16.7/10 during the first two years of the pandemic (2020 and 2021, respectively) ( = 0.0001). Stratifying by age group (0-4, 5-9, 10-14, and 15-17) revealed a significant increase in the 5-9, 10-14, and 15-17 groups, both in 2020 ( = 0.0001) and in 2021 ( = 0.0001). The incidence rate in the 0-4 age group showed no change in the first year of the pandemic (2020) ( = 0.4). However, in the second year of the pandemic (2021), there was a significant increase from 6.3/10 in the pre-pandemic period to 9.1/10 ( = 0.001). Anti-COVID-19 vaccination in 2022 led to a significant decrease in the incidence rates in the 10-14 and 15-17 age groups ( = 0.03 and = 0.02, respectively). : The COVID-19 pandemic was associated with a significant increase in the incidence of new-onset T1D in prepubertal and pubertal children. Anti-COVID-19 vaccination decreased the incidence rate significantly only in pubertal children.