Development of type 1 diabetes in children in Volgograd region during the COVID-19 pandemic

Viral infections are one of the possible triggers of autoimmune damage to β-cells of the pancreatic islets, followed by the development of type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1DM) in individuals with a genetic predisposition to this disease. The aim of the work was to search for the possible impact of SARS-CoV-2 infection on the occurrence of T1 DM in children from the Volgograd region. The authors analyzed the data on the primary incidence of T1DM in the children's population of the Volgograd region in the first 2 years of the COVID-19 pandemic (2020-2021) compared to the 3 previous years (2017-2019). A statistically significant increase in the number of cases of primary T1DM was revealed in different age groups of the studied population during the COVID-19 pandemic. The results of the study confirm the need for further monitoring of the dynamics of the primary incidence of type 1 diabetes among children of all age groups after the COVID-19 pandemic in order to confirm or deny the hypothesis put forward.