Many people who have had COVID-19 have gone on to develop diabetes. But diabetes is relatively common, and COVID-19 is too, so that doesn’t necessarily mean one leads to the other.

The question is whether people who have had COVID-19 are more likely to develop diabetes than those who haven’t. And if so, is it the virus that’s causing diabetes, or is there something else that links the two?

Recent studies suggest there is an association between having COVID-19 and going on to be diagnosed with diabetes.

US data, based on records of more than 500,000 people aged under 18 who had COVID-19, found these young people were more likely to receive a new diabetes diagnosis following their infection, compared to those who didn’t have COVID-19 and those who’d had other respiratory infections prior to the pandemic.