2023-08-01 06:19:42
In Belgium and other Western countries, the number of cases of diabetes in children and adolescents has increased significantly since the start of the coronavirus epidemic. This is what De Standaard reports on Tuesday.
De Standaard refers to an analysis of 17 previous studies. These show that the number of new cases of type 1 diabetes (“juvenile diabetes”) diagnosed in 2020 was 14% higher in several Western countries compared to the previous year. In 2021, this increase was 27% compared to 2019.
The study, published in the specialized journal Jama Network Open, mainly brings together figures from the United States, Australia and Europe, but not from Belgium. But it looks like something is happening in Belgium too, judging by recent NIHDI figures. Sciensano also saw a “significant increase” during the covid period. But this increase, of regarding 12% per year, was already underway before, reports Suchsia Chao, of Sciensano.
The cause is unclear. It is possible that the additional cases were directly caused by the covid-19 infection. But it is also possible that indirect effects come into play, when measures such as confinement have created favorable conditions for the emergence of the disease.
Moreover, the question arises whether the increase is real. According to Professor Chantal Mathieu (UZ Leuven), “there have been as many publications that have not shown an increase, and these publications are less publicized”.
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