A strange and disturbing side effect of COVID-19 has been detected in children. Experts in England are concerned 30 youngsters developed type 1 diabetes during the peak of the pandemic. That is twice the normal number of incidences reported in the same time period in previous years, according to a new study published in the journal Diabetes Care.

According to Yahoo Life, researchers at Imperial College London suspect the virus causes diabetes by attacking the cells of the pancreas that produce insulin. Since not all of the children were tested for COVID-19, other experts say the evidence is too weak to make a direct correlation between the virus and diabetes.

Study author Karen Logan said, while children are at a low risk of developing serious cases of COVID-19, "we need to consider potential health complications following exposure to the virus in children," according to Yahoo.

The scientists said that while their study is the first to link the coronavirus and type 1 diabetes in children, China and Italy have reported similar findings.

Dr. Fran Cogen, head of pediatric endocrinology at Childrens National Medical Center in Washington, D.C., has warned parents the coronavirus can be a trigger for type 1 diabetes if they are genetically predisposed to the disease. 

"Watch your child, be able to compare your child's usual behavior to something new," she told WTOP News. Early warning signs include hunger and eating, drinking and urinating more. Another symptom is weight loss, she said.

Cogan said she expects to see a surge in diabetes cases.

"I would not be surprised that in the next six months to a year that we see a lot more patients due to COVID-19," she told WTOP.