Since his diagnosis of type 1 diabetes about 20 months ago, my son has had approximately twenty bouts of pneumonia — eight required hospitalization. He has had tissue samples taken from lungs and nasal passages to determine if the cilia were a problem and has been tested for asthma, etc., but all proved negative or inconclusive. He also has short gut syndrome (approximately 40% of his small intestine was removed due to volvolus/malrotation) and is anaphylactic to all dairy products, dogs/cats, etc. Why is my son having recurring pneumonia? Is this a by-product of having type 1 diabetes?

I regret that this forum is not optimal to answer your questions. It sounds as if a diagnostic process is underway (checking for cilia issues). I presume that cystic fibrosis (CF) has been looked for. The standard way to check for CF is to collect and analyze the salt levels in a person’s sweat. It is easy and inexpensive. If the sweat test is normal, but CF remains a consideration, there are more definitive genetic tests that can be done to look for some of the more common genetic mutations that cause CF.

You did not indicate your son’s blood sugar control. Poor glycemic control can certain set up an environment for germs to flourish and can lead to infections. You also did not indicate what types of germs were causing the pneumonias. Bacterial and fungal germs would make me consider a relationship (not necessarily causality) with his diabetes.

If your son has not been followed by pediatric endocrinology, pediatric pulmonary, and even an immunologist or geneticist, I would think that all should be strongly considered.

DS