Scaramuzza A, Cavalli C. COVID-19 outbreak on the seasonality and incidence of pediatric type 1 diabetes mellitus. World J Diabetes 2026; 17(2): 113109 [DOI: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i2.113109]
Corresponding Author of This Article
Andrea Scaramuzza, MD, PhD, Senior Researcher, Department of Pediatrics, ASST Cremona, Maggiore Hospital, Viale Concordia 1, Cremona 26100, Lombardia, Italy. a.scaramuzza@gmail.com
Research Domain of This Article
Endocrinology & Metabolism
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Letter to the Editor
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This article is an open-access article which was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution Non Commercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Feb 15, 2026 (publication date) through Feb 10, 2026
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Publication Name
World Journal of Diabetes
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1948-9358
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Baishideng Publishing Group Inc, 7041 Koll Center Parkway, Suite 160, Pleasanton, CA 94566, USA
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Scaramuzza A, Cavalli C. COVID-19 outbreak on the seasonality and incidence of pediatric type 1 diabetes mellitus. World J Diabetes 2026; 17(2): 113109 [DOI: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i2.113109]
World J Diabetes. Feb 15, 2026; 17(2): 113109 Published online Feb 15, 2026. doi: 10.4239/wjd.v17.i2.113109
COVID-19 outbreak on the seasonality and incidence of pediatric type 1 diabetes mellitus
Andrea Scaramuzza, Claudio Cavalli
Andrea Scaramuzza, Claudio Cavalli, Department of Pediatrics, ASST Cremona, Maggiore Hospital, Cremona 26100, Lombardia, Italy
Author contributions: Scaramuzza A and Cavalli C conceived the letter, critically discussed the final manuscript, and approved it.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Andrea Scaramuzza, MD, PhD, Senior Researcher, Department of Pediatrics, ASST Cremona, Maggiore Hospital, Viale Concordia 1, Cremona 26100, Lombardia, Italy. a.scaramuzza@gmail.com
Received: August 15, 2025 Revised: September 8, 2025 Accepted: December 11, 2025 Published online: February 15, 2026 Processing time: 175 Days and 17.7 Hours
Abstract
To respond to the recent study by Carmon et al on type 1 diabetes (T1DM) incidence/seasonality pre-coronavirus disease 2019 and peri-coronavirus disease 2019, we highlighted convergent findings from the Lombardy pediatric T1DM data (2017-2023). Carmon et al reported elevated T1DM incidence and lost seasonality in the pandemic first year in Israel, linking respiratory viral disruption to T1DM risk. Our data show a 2020 step-increase in Lombardy pediatric T1DM and stable elevated rates (2020-2023) unrelated to coronavirus disease 2021 vaccines. Combined Israeli-Italian data suggest the pandemic triggered lasting higher pediatric T1DM incidence, potentially via severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-mediated beta cell damage or immunological shifts, emphasizing global surveillance needs for pandemic autoimmune disease links.
Core Tip: We note convergence between the Israeli study by Carmon et al [elevated pediatric type 1 diabetes (T1DM) incidence, lost seasonality peri-coronavirus disease 2019] and our Lombardy data (a 2020 step-increase in pediatric T1DM, stable elevated rates 2020-2023, vaccine-unrelated). Combined data suggest that the pandemic triggered lasting higher T1DM incidence (likely via severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2-mediated beta cell/immune changes), stressing global surveillance for pandemic-autoimmune disease links.
