No COVID-19 pandemic impact on incidence and clinical presentation of celiac disease in Italian children

Aim: We aimed to evaluate the impact of Coronavirus Disease-19 (COVID-19) pandemic on the incidence and clinical presentation of celiac disease (CD) in children.

Methods: The diagnoses of CD were compared between the COVID-19 pandemic (from April 2020 to March 2022) and the pre-pandemic period (from April 2018 to March 2020) in three Italian Paediatric Gastroenterology centres (Varese, Como, Catanzaro). Electronic patient records were reviewed and additional information were collected through parental interview. The diagnosis of CD was made according to ESPGHAN criteria. SARS-CoV-2 infection was diagnosed based on pre-vaccination positive serum antibodies or nasopharyngeal swabs. Z test and chi-square were used for statistical analysis.

Results: The overall number of paediatric diagnosis of CD did not differ between the two years pre-pandemic and pandemic periods (177 and 172 cases) in the three Italian participating centres. Clinical presentation of CD was also similar throughout the study periods. SARS-CoV-2 infection has been documented in 10.6% of children but only in 5.8% of these occurred before CD diagnosis.

Conclusion: Different to what reported for other autoimmune diseases, the incidence and presenting symptoms of CD in our paediatric population did not change during the COVID-19 pandemic compared to the previous 2 years.