The COVID-19 Pandemic Affects Seasonality, With Increasing Cases of New-Onset Type 1 Diabetes in Children, From the Worldwide SWEET Registry

OBJECTIVE To analyze whether the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic increased the number of cases or impacted seasonality of new-onset type 1 diabetes (T1D) in large pediatric diabetes centers globally. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We analyzed data on 17,280 cases of T1D diagnosed during 2018–2021 from 92 worldwide centers participating in the SWEET registry using hierarchic linear regression models. RESULTS The average number of new-onset T1D cases per center adjusted for the total number of patients treated at the center per year and stratified by age-groups increased from 11.2 (95% CI 10.1–12.2) in 2018 to 21.7 (20.6–22.8) in 2021 for the youngest age-group, CONCLUSIONS The slope of the rise in pediatric new-onset T1D in SWEET centers remained unchanged during the COVID-19 pandemic, but a change in the seasonality at onset became apparent.