SARS-CoV-2 Infection and Development of Islet Autoimmunity in Early Childhood.

Importance: The incidence of diabetes in childhood has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic. Elucidating whether SARS-CoV-2 infection is associated with islet autoimmunity, which precedes type 1 diabetes onset, is relevant to disease etiology and future childhood diabetes trends.

Objective: To determine whether there is a temporal relationship between SARS-CoV-2 infection and the development of islet autoimmunity in early childhood.