In a new study, the US health authority CDC examined the connection between diabetes and corona in children. Namely, whether young people under the age of 18 develop diabetes as a result of surviving an infection. The data at first seem indeed to confirm this phenomenon. However, there is criticism of the results, reports the “Spiegel”.
What was looked at in the study?
The experts worked with data from two health banks – in the first case it is people who were infected between March 2020 and February 2021 and in the second case people who were infected between March 2020 and June 2021. So all of them before the omicron wave.
A total of over 500,000 data from young people under the age of 18 were evaluated. Aiming to see what is the risk of being diagnosed with diabetes for the first time at least one month after contracting Covid.
The number of those who developed diabetes after Corona was compared with the number of children who were diagnosed with diabetes without a proven corona infection. A third control group consisted of subjects who had other respiratory infections before the pandemic.
What was the result?
According to the studies, the incidence of diabetes in the Corona children was higher than in those who were not infected. According to information from the first database, the risk was increased by as much as 166 percent. Even compared to the control group, the value was still 116 percent. In the group from the second database, however, the risk of developing diabetes was “only” 31 percent higher. However, it is not possible to say conclusively why the values are so different. The text of the study points out that the people from the second group are more seriously ill overall, which is why the difference may be smaller.
In their study, the authors themselves admit that the results would be subject to “at least four limitations”. Firstly, diabetes would only be discussed in general and the different types and forms would not be looked at. Secondly, it is conceivable that corona was not detected in all children and that they therefore ended up in the wrong group. Third, there is a lack of information on the factors that can influence the connection between corona and diabetes – for example weight, ethnicity or prediabetes. Finally, the researchers state that the data comes only from patients with health insurance. This raises the question of appropriate representativeness.
How do other experts rate this?
“The study has methodological problems that are not trivial,” says Andreas Neu, President of the German Diabetes Society and children’s diabetologist at the Children’s Hospital in Tübingen, to the “Spiegel”.
He not only criticizes the large differences of 166 and 33 percent in the study, which are not sufficiently explained, but also the lack of typing of diabetes. Type 1 diabetes is an autoimmune disease. The immune system destroys the cells in the pancreas that are responsible for the production of the vital insulin. In type 2, on the other hand, the pancreas produces too little insulin. The causes for this are often obesity and lack of exercise.
So, the origins of the disease are different. In Germany, most adult patients suffer from type 2, while children suffer from type 1. However, in the USA – where the extent of obesity is completely different – the proportion of type 2 diseases in children is significantly higher. If this type also predominated in the current study – which was not examined, however – the disease would have nothing to do with a corona infection. But rather with – possibly also due to the pandemic – little exercise and a lot of unhealthy food. Type 1, on the other hand, could actually be triggered by infection in “people who are already at risk.”
Neu also received approval from Reinhard Berner, director of the clinic and polyclinic for pediatric and adolescent medicine at the Dresden University Hospital and board member of the German Society for Pediatric and Adolescent Medicine (DGKJ). He thinks it is conceivable that the virus attacks the cells of the pancreas, which could lead to type 1 diabetes. However, not within a little more than 30 days.
He also points out that a secure causal connection is not possible with a secondary data analysis. In this case, one cannot say with certainty: “This diabetes disease was clearly caused by the previous Covid 19 infection”.
And just like the researchers of the study themselves, he also criticizes the fact that the overweight factor was not examined. A fatter child has a significantly higher risk of developing type 2 diabetes than a normal-weight child. Being overweight also increases the likelihood of a severe course of the corona virus and thus the fact that the virus will be recognized at all.
Can’t you take the results seriously?
Some experts already rate the results of the CDC study as useful. The study is “in line with other publications that show an increase in diabetes in children in the last two years,” says Dominik Schneider, director of the clinic for pediatric and adolescent medicine at the Dortmund Clinic, to the “Spiegel”.
Even if the differentiation of the types is missing, he considers the data to be relatively meaningful. “Nevertheless, the criticism that the data is only recorded relatively roughly is justified,” says Schneider.
He would not change the strategy of the authorities in Germany. The findings are not sufficient for this. In addition, the numbers cannot be transferred 1:1 to Germany, where the epidemiological situation is different.
So what does this mean for the children and their parents?
Both Neu and Bernhard say that diabetes as a result of Corona could pose a potential risk. However, we currently know too little about it. But parents don’t have to worry any more than they did during the pandemic. (man)