Objectives COVID-19 pandemic significantly impacted the diagnosis of type 1 diabetes and its acute complications. Thus, the study aimed to evaluate the characteristics of pediatric patients with type 1 diabetes hospitalized during the first wave of the pandemic and the prevalence of new onset diabetes among patients with evidence of COVID-19 infection. Methods A single-center surveillance study included all patients with diabetes admitted to Children’s Hospital, Ain Shams University, in Egypt between May to August 2020. Data were collected to evaluate patients’ clinical and laboratory characteristics as well as their outcomes. Results Thirty-six patients were admitted during the study period. The mean age was 8.4 ± 3.8 years. Patients presented late to the emergency department with a mean delay of 3.05 ± 1.19 days from onset of symptoms. 34/36 patients presented in diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA), 50% presenting in severe DKA. Almost 81% of the patients were newly diagnosed. During the study period, SARS-CoV-2 PCR was found positive in four patients, COVID Ig M antibodies were positive in another two patients; all were symptomatic requiring ICU admission. Four patients showed a picture suggestive of the multi-inflammatory syndrome (MIS-C); cardiac affection was a constant feature. Conclusions The pandemic affected both the prevalence and severity of DKA among pediatric patients. The increased prevalence of severe DKA could be partly related to delayed hospital admission or the effect of COVID-19 in triggering DKA. Efforts should be done to continuously raise awareness about diabetes in children as well as the importance of seeking timely medical guidance.

中文翻译：

---

COVID-19 大流行期间住院儿童和青少年 1 型糖尿病患者的临床特征和结果：来自埃及单中心监测研究的数据

目标 COVID-19 大流行显着影响了 1 型糖尿病及其急性并发症的诊断。因此，该研究旨在评估在第一波大流行期间住院的 1 型糖尿病儿科患者的特征以及有 COVID-19 感染证据的患者中新发糖尿病的患病率。方法 一项单中心监测研究包括 2020 年 5 月至 2020 年 8 月期间在埃及艾因夏姆斯大学儿童医院住院的所有糖尿病患者。收集数据以评估患者的临床和实验室特征及其结果。结果 研究期间共入院 36 名患者。平均年龄为 8.4 ± 3.8 岁。患者较晚到急诊室就诊，从症状出现起平均延迟 3.05 ± 1.19 天。34/36 患者出现糖尿病酮症酸中毒 (DKA)，50% 出现严重 DKA。几乎81%的患者是新诊断的。研究期间，4名患者SARS-CoV-2 PCR阳性，另外2名患者COVID Ig M抗体阳性；所有人都有症状需要入住ICU。4 名患者的图片提示多发性炎症综合征 (MIS-C)；心脏情感是一个不变的特征。结论 大流行影响了儿科患者 DKA 的患病率和严重程度。严重 DKA 患病率的增加可能部分与入院延迟或 COVID-19 触发 DKA 的影响有关。应努力不断提高儿童对糖尿病的认识以及及时就医的重要性。