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Child health practitioners in the UK and internationally have voiced concerns that restrictions and measures introduced to combat the COVID-19 pandemic may be causing unintended adverse consequences for the health and social well-being of children. Initial reports suggested a significant reduction in the utilisation of healthcare services by children during the pandemic, raising concerns about late presentation of children with serious illness.1 In a national survey of UK paediatricians, 32% of clinicians reported having witnessed delayed presentations to emergency care over a 2-week period in April 2020.2 The most frequently reported delayed presentation was new diagnosis of diabetes mellitus. Analysis of children newly diagnosed with type 1 diabetes in Germany identified that between March and April 2020, a significantly greater proportion of cases presented with diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) (45%) when compared with corresponding periods over the previous 2 years (24%).3
Here, we report the frequency of referral of children with DKA to a regional paediatric critical care advice and transport service in the …
Footnotes
Contributors AJJ, PR and MJP conceptualised and designed the study. EB and AJJ collected and analysed the data. EB drafted the manuscript.
Funding The authors have not declared a specific grant for this research from any funding agency in the public, commercial or not-for-profit sectors.
Disclaimer While this project received no specific funding, all research at Great Ormond Street Hospital NHS Foundation Trust and UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health is made possible by the NIHR Great Ormond Street Hospital Biomedical Research Centre. The views expressed are those of the author(s) and not necessarily those of the NHS, the NIHR or the Department of Health.
Competing interests None declared.
Patient consent for publication Not required.
Provenance and peer review Not commissioned; internally peer reviewed.