Campaign for Diabetic Ketoacidosis Prevention Still Effective 8 Years Later
- Maurizio Vanelli, MD,
- Giovanni Chiari, MD,
- Silvia Lacava, MD and
- Brunella Iovane, MD
- From the Post-Graduate School of Paediatrics, University of Parma, Parma, Italy
- Address correspondence to Maurizio Vanelli, MD, Chairman, Post-Graduate School of Paediatrics, University Hospital of Parma, v.le A. Gramsci, 14, 43100 Parma, Italy. E-mail: maurizio.vanelli{at}unipr.it
Diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) in children with type 1 diabetes at onset is considered an increased risk factor of death and is generally related to a long duration of misdiagnosed hyperglycemia-associated symptoms (1). Shortening this latency period could be a winning preventive strategy. In the period of 1991–1997, we investigated this hypothesis in the province of Parma and demonstrated that, thanks to a school and physician campaign centered on the earliest symptom of diabetes (nocturnal enuresis in a “dry” child) as reported by 89% of parents, it was possible to prevent DKA (2 …
