According to a new study published at the beginning of the year by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, children who have contracted the covid-19 virus are 2.66 times more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes than children who have avoided catching the virus. However, It is yet to be concluded by researchers if diabetes post having covid-19 will chronically affect children or if it will just be a temporary condition.
The possible correlation of increased risk of diabetes in children comes from data that has been collected from 2.5 million babies and children. With new data published in the UK also showing that very young children are more likely to be hospitalised with Omicron compared to older children when comparing the effects of previous variants of the virus.
You can read the full journal article here
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In December of 2021, the most recent edition of the International Diabetes Federation’s Diabetes Atlas was published, which reported that worldwide one in ten adults have diabetes, equating to half a billion people, with numbers only expected to rise in coming years [1].
Whilst 537 million people suffer from diabetes, more worrying is that half are yet to be diagnosed, with the covid-19 pandemic only adding to this number.
The pandemic has meant delayed treatment and missed appointments for thousands of people in the UK, not just those affected by diabetes but everyone. A report by the Health and Social Care committee stated that since September 2021 there have been 5.8 million people who are awaiting planned care, representing the highest level since records began [2].
Further on the topic Sajid Javid, Secretary of State for Health and Social Care commented:
“this could be just the tip of the iceberg because of missing patients who had not yet come forward, meaning the true waiting list could be as high as 13 million.”
Diabetes UK has responded to the report by stating that diabetes care needs to urgently be incorporated into the latest national health and care recovery plan which is scheduled to be published in April this year.
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