COVID-19 Update: The Diabetes Connection, WHO Concerned about BA.2

Viral infections can have a broad range of side effects, such as myocarditis, and COVID-19 is no different. But there is evidence that COVID-19 infection might be linked to an increase in diabetes, particularly Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease most commonly diagnosed in children. For that and more, continue reading.

Diabetes Increases COVID-19 Risk But Does COVID-19 Increase Risk of Diabetes?

It’s evident that diabetes and obesity are associated with a greater risk of COVID-19. But there has been some evidence that COVID-19 can lead to diabetes. In some cases, SARS-CoV-2 — as well as other viruses — can attack the islet cells in the pancreas that manufacture insulin. This could trigger at least temporary diabetes in susceptible people. However, increased cases of diabetes may reflect other factors, such as pandemic restrictions, delayed medical care, or unhealthy eating habits and inactivity in people at risk of Type 2 diabetes. In addition, some of the steroids used to treat COVID-19 can cause diabetes; sometimes it resolves, sometimes it doesn’t.

A Centers for Disease Control study of U.S. insurance databases found diabetes was significantly more common in children who had COVID-19. However, the report didn’t separate Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease typically affecting children, and Type 2, which is associated with obesity. The University of Michigan’s Mott Children’s Hospital, for example, has observed a 30% increase in Type 1 diabetes compared to before the pandemic. They haven’t analyzed how many had previous cases of COVID-19, but there is concern that there’s a connection to the dramatic increase.

Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego reported Type 1 diabetes cases rocketed almost 60% during the first year of the pandemic compared to the previous 12 months. But only 2% had active COVID-19, and the study, which was published in JAMA Pediatrics, did not have information on other types of previous infections. But the jump was alarming and “clearly there’s a lot more work to be done to try to answer why this is happening,” said co-author Dr. Jane Kim.