Long covid turns out to be a risk factor for both Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes, through poorly understood mechanisms. Epidemiologists recommend systematic study of the phenomenon to catch cases early and provide the opportunity for closer study of the mechanisms.
Unfortunately, the prospects for such studies in the US are now as bad as the actual outcome of the original covid pandemic, for precisely the same reasons.
Protest. We don’t have to take this for much longer.
Trump administration cuts funding to long-term diabetes study: Report
More than 1,000 people have been fired from the health agency as part of Trump cuts
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Scientists estimate higher rate of new-onset diabetes after COVID than in general population.
A systematic review of 35 studies up to Oct 2023, covering 4.4 million COVID-19 patients of all ages, found a 1.37% incidence of new-onset type 1 or 2 diabetes following infection.
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— Denis - The COVID Info Guy (@thecovidinfoguy.bsky.social) May 6, 2025 at 6:56 PM
The researchers mined databases to identify and analyze studies from around the world on COVID-related type 1 or type 2 diabetes published up to October 2023. The studies included a total of 4.4 million COVID-19 patients of all ages, and 47.7% were male.
Vast majority of cases were type 2
Of the 4.4 million COVID-19 patients, 60,189 (1.37%) had new-onset diabetes (0.84% type 2, 0.017% type 1). The type of diabetes wasn't available for 28 studies (0.51% of cases).
A multidisciplinary approach involving endocrinologists, primary care physicians, and infectious disease specialists should be implemented in the management of post-COVID patients.
Factors associated with incident diabetes were SARS-CoV-2 variant type, severity of infection, underlying medical conditions, demographic factors, and vaccination status. The risk of diabetes rose over time, with the highest rates seen at 3 to 12 months post-infection.
The study authors noted that the real-world incidence could be higher because many studies reported cases of new-onset diabetes only for patients who returned to the hospital for readmission or follow up.
"However, this rate is still higher than the estimated rate of new onset diabetes in a general population," they wrote. "For example, among adults aged 18 years or older in the USA, the crude estimates for 2021 were 1.2 million new cases of diabetes (0.59%)."
New Onset of Type 1 and Type 2 Diabetes Post-COVID-19 Infection: A Systematic Review
COVID-19 may primarily cause respiratory symptoms but can lead to long-term effects known as long COVID. COVID-19-induced diabetes mellitus was reported in many patients which shares characteristics of types 1 and 2 (T1DM and T2DM). This study aims to identify and analyze the reported cases of new onset diabetes post-COVID-19 infection. Several databases were used to conduct a comprehensive literature search to target studies reporting cases of T1DM or T2DM post-COVID-19 infection. Screening, data extraction, and cross checking were performed by two independent reviewers. Only 43 studies met our inclusion criteria.
Our results revealed that the overall prevalence of new onset diabetes post-COVID-19 was 1.37% with higher prevalence for T2DM (0.84%) as compared to T1DM (0.017%) while the type of diabetes was not reported in 0.51% of the cases. Several risk factors for developing diabetes post-COVID-19 infection were identified including the type of SARS-CoV-2 variant, age, comorbidities and the vaccination status.
The direct viral attack of the pancreatic beta cells as well as inflammation and the anti-inflammatory corticosteroids were proposed as possible mechanisms of the COVID-19 induced diabetes. A multidisciplinary approach involving endocrinologists, primary care physicians, and infectious disease specialists should be implemented in the management of post-COVID patients to address both the acute and long-term complications, including metabolic changes and risk of diabetes.
