A covid 19 infection can raise the risk of Type I & II Diabetes in Children

[BambinaJAS]

From the CDC. FB Link below to NYT Article.

This is what many professionals have been shouting from the rooftops for months now. While children do not die in large numbers, they can still be damaged long-term by these infections. There will no doubt be many more health problems showing up over the next few years at a population (Pediatric) wide level due to a previous covid infection in children.

It was absolute lunacy to let the virus rip through the 5 - 11 year olds in the UK. The JCVI will have a lot to answer for as they were responsible for holding up the vaccinations.

www.facebook.com/5281959998/posts/10152850293844999/

Because many children are catching this virus at present, a greater number of genetically predisposed children are being "triggered".

Which is essentially what this thread is about. We could have decided to not let it spread through our children. We could have vaccinated them and spent money on ventilation in schools. These children wouldn't have been 'triggered' they may have gone many more years if at all without being 'triggered'.

Okay, that's a fair point. But I think there needs to be clarity about whether people are saying Covid-19 causes diabetes or triggers it.

Incidentally my mum developed T1 aged 12 and my BIL was 11, so I suspect that she might otherwise have developed T1 later.

I agree that it’s pretty well known that a virus can trigger type 1 diabetes. But it’s incredibly frustrating to see so many replies are just effectively “so what, other viruses cause it too.”

Are those viruses circulating with such high numbers as covid is? They’re not, and haven’t - in recent history anyway, so the important point here isn’t that “other viruses trigger t1 diabetes”, it’s “a virus circulating in very high numbers is causing more t1 diabetes than we would usually see.”

@Whichjab

Because many children are catching this virus at present, a greater number of genetically predisposed children are being "triggered".

Which is essentially what this thread is about. We could have decided to not let it spread through our children. We could have vaccinated them and spent money on ventilation in schools. These children wouldn't have been 'triggered' they may have gone many more years if at all without being 'triggered'.

With all the viruses flying about anyway - flu, colds, vomiting bugs, ear infections - I think that’s a bit of a reach to be honest.

Type 1 is shit but it’s a manageable condition, it probably isn’t worth the effort/cost ratio to do what you have suggested.

I can’t help but feel this is another scare mongery thread.

Me too @Lifeisnteasy. And actually, in our family situation, it kind of offends me. I feel like it's using my child's situation and condition as some kind of ammunition, OTT though that may seem.

@Jourdain11 I’m sorry to hear about your daughter I hope she’s holding up well, and you too, it must be stressful.

“Causes or triggers” would be interesting to know. Possibly not very comforting as it either means a child who would probably not have developed t1 now has t1, or a child who might have avoided it until later on life now has t1. Either way, a child has been left with t1 diabetes (although I can understand that the first might be harder to come to terms with than the second).

When I was diagnosed the doctor commented it had been a bad winter for new diagnoses (this was January 2016). It comes in peaks and troughs anyway depending on how many bugs are flying about. It’s just one of those things @BewareTheLibrarians and there’s no evidence that vaccinating against a virus prevents it from triggering diabetes if it is caught.

I find the dimissive attitude of "all these children would've been triggered anyway, it's just earlier" a bit concerning

The hypo/hyper episodes caused by diabetes mellitus causes a whole host of issues - most notably to the brain and renal system. Delaying disease onset to as late as possible is best for any child, even if they were likely to develop DM later in life anyway.

There's such a backlash to the (implausible) long term emerging effects of vaccination, yet a weird cognitive dissosance when we know that infection causes long term effects, and that repeated exposure may heighten this risk.

@leafyygreens but where is the evidence that vaccinating against a virus prevents it triggering t1d if it is caught? Everyone I know who has had covid lately has been double jabbed and usually boosted.

That’s interesting @Lifeisnteasy I guess we’re in one of those peaks again right now. But a not-inevitable higher peak than we needed to be, leading to more t1 diabetes than there needed to be. It’s not outlandish to be frustrated with that.

(Also you may have confused me with another poster as I didn’t mention vaccinations so not sure if the relevance. However, a recent study has shown that vaccination can reduce the risk of developing long covid and reduce symptoms in those who already have long covid so who knows!)

It's the same for other viruses, nothing exclusive to covid - glandular fever, flu etc are known triggers - two friends DD's developed type one following the flu in 2018 long before covid.

@DayKay

And are they sure that it’s not linked to pandemic stress, lockdowns, school closures, lack of exercise, eating too much of the wrong food, becoming more sedentary due to parents not having time?

Yes, I would imagine they've compared a cohort who've had covid vs those who haven't (there will be more children who fall in this group in other countries who managed things better and had more protections in schools)

We will end up with a much more disabled generation than countries who managed this well.

For the record, I'd vaccinate my 5 year old today if I could.

I've read up and I strongly believe the science supports the risks of the vaccine being negligible and the risks of covid being considerable.

Has everyone seen the graph of hospital admissions of 0-5 year olds with covid recently? It's going straight up.

@theemperorhasnoclothes don’t sound so delighted 🙄

I’m not disabled. I inject insulin, have a handy little device that checks my sugar levels but that’s it. There’s nothing I cannot do mentally or physically (bar joining the military etc). That may change but it sounds like you’re enjoying the doom theatrics.

T1d is strongly linked to northern colder climates, predominantly Scandinavia. So you can’t do a meaningful worldwide comparison anyway as rates are naturally much higher in some countries than others.

Can I have a link to see 0-5 admissions please?

If this data is true then what is the solution? What are you wanting to happen?

@DayKay

And are they sure that it’s not linked to pandemic stress, lockdowns, school closures, lack of exercise, eating too much of the wrong food, becoming more sedentary due to parents not having time?

Absolutely agree

People have literally said to me (and I'm not exaggerating), don't I feel bad that my DD has diabetes because I let her catch Covid?

Of course I'm sorry that she has to deal with this, and even if she was going to develop it anyway, maybe life would have been easier for her if she'd got it aged 12 or 13 when she'd be a little more independent and mature. But it's all ifs - we'll never know! Perhaps it is better that she'll understand and be used to dealing with her condition by the time she goes to secondary and has to cope with it more independently.

www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40780581.html

And don’t forget the huge surge in respiratory and viral illness due to the lockdowns will also be causing diabetes.

I stand corrected- didn't realise it was type 1 diabetes

@Whitegrenache it’s already been pointed out upthread that

Aah I posted to soon and just seen that you noticed

@Jourdain11

People have literally said to me (and I'm not exaggerating), don't I feel bad that my DD has diabetes because I let her catch Covid?

Of course I'm sorry that she has to deal with this, and even if she was going to develop it anyway, maybe life would have been easier for her if she'd got it aged 12 or 13 when she'd be a little more independent and mature. But it's all ifs - we'll never know! Perhaps it is better that she'll understand and be used to dealing with her condition by the time she goes to secondary and has to cope with it more independently.

How awful to say that to you. If it hadn’t been covid it could well have been anything else. In fact there’s no way of 100% knowing what causes it, it’s all guesswork and likelihood’s really.

If it helps, living with it really does become second nature - I can’t say it isn’t a pain, but it’s far from the worst thing out there, and it will fade into the background of her life 💐

@Lifeisnteasy

www.irishexaminer.com/news/arid-40780581.html

And don’t forget the huge surge in respiratory and viral illness due to the lockdowns will also be causing diabetes.

Ah ok. Huge surge in cases caused by lockdown = bad Huge surge in cases caused by covid = just normal, not a problem

Do you think that those of us concerned by this are somehow advocating lockdown?