Education and public information: preventing diabetic ketoacidosis in Italy

Left untreated, diabetic ketoacidosis has a 100% death rate. Indeed, ketoacidosis is a leading cause of death and disability in children with type 1 diabetes. Severe acidosis often develops during an extended period in which hyperglycaemia-related symptoms are misdiagnosed. Reducing this period may be sufficient to prevent severe acidosis in newly diagnosed children with diabetes. Ten years ago, the author investigated this hypothesis and demonstrated that, thanks to a school-based campaign with the involvement of healthcare professionals that was centred on recognizing early symptoms, it was possible to diagnose diabetes before the appearance of ketoacidosis.