'We're seeing so many more kids come in with diabetes,' one doctor told CBS News. 'And they're more sick.'
may be linked to a lifelong health problem for some children who contract the disease. The study, published on January 7, found that children and teens are more likely to be diagnosed with diabetes a month or more after their COVID infection, compared to those who did not have COVID.
Dr. Mary Pat Gallagher, director of NYU Langone's Pediatric Diabetes Center, told CBS News that it's believed certain infections can create a"perfect storm" that contributes to the development of diabetes. "There's some evidence that COVID-19 infection could affect insulin secretion," she said."So, you know, we just don't know what of the different effects of the pandemic are the cause. Is it actually infection, or is it just the pandemic itself and all of the societal factors related to it?"
"If you already were at risk, the pandemic probably made it worse," Magge explained."The stress of any infection can increase blood sugars and can make you have a higher risk of any of the complications of diabetes because your blood sugars could get higher."and steroid treatment patients may have received while hospitalized could have contributed to high blood sugar and diabetes. But, they added, only 1.5% to 2.
"I think it emphasizes that there are a lot of things we don't know about this virus," she added."It does underscore the importance of prevention, the importance of everybodyand all those things, because there is a lot that we don't know, and it's definitely concerning."