[Epidemiological Evolution of Type 1 Diabetes in Children: Data from the Register of the Department of Oran, Algeria,...

Diabetes in children is undergoing a profound change in terms of frequency and age at onset worldwide. Algeria is particularly impacted by the epidemic to the point of appearing in the "top 10" 2016 of countries with very high incidence of T1D. Our study was aimed to present the epidemiological evolution of T1D in children using data from the register of the department of Oran.

New cases of T1D are children under 15 years old coming from primary care units and pediatric departments. Registration was centralized at the level of the "C" pediatric unit of Oran University Hospital since 1973 with an assessment close to 100%.

From 1973 to 2017, 2358 T1D new cases aged less than 15 years at T1D diagnosis have been registered. The average annual incidence under 15 years old for the last 5 years 2013-2017 is 31.12±3.60 cases per 100,000 and 22.62±5.18, 36.92±6.88 et 37.93±6.53 for children 0-4, 5-9 et 10-14 years old, respectively. The average annual evolution was at 12.78% in the last 25 years for the whole group and 15.03, 15.50 and 9.10% for children of 0-4, 5-9 and 10-14 years old, respectively. The estimated prevalence on December 31st 2017 was 207 per 100,000 equivalent to 1 T1D for 482 children under 15. The sex ratio for all cases is 0.94 with non-significant fluctuations. The winter/summer seasonality, significant from 1973 to 2013 in favor of winter months is no longer present starting from 2013.

We confirm, in agreement with other teams, the outsized increase in the incidence of T1D and the younger age at onset in children under 15 in our country. This evolution, mainly related to environmental problems poses new difficulties to families and teams in charge of the disease.