Thousands of children are being taken to hospital for emergency treatment for diabetes, amid concern that the illness is going undiagnosed.

Experts said that parents and health workers were failing to recognise the early symptoms of diabetes, putting many lives at risk.

The number of emergency admissions for under-18s with diabetes increased by 8 per cent to 3,300 in the 12 months to March 2007, the latest figures showed.

Diabetes UK, the specialist charity, described the increase as shocking. Complications of diabetes can lead to serious illness and coma if not treated quickly. An illness known as diabetic ketoacidosis (DKA) occurs when blood glucose levels are dangerously high, causing nausea, vomiting, stomach pain and rapid breathing, and potentially leading to coma.

Children under 18 accounted for more than a quarter of the 12,326 hospital admissions for DKA during the 12-month period from April 2006 to March 2007, figures from the NHS Information Centre showed.

There are 20,000 children under 15 with type 1 diabetes. People with the condition lack the ability to produce enough insulin, the hormone that regulates blood sugar levels.

It is distinct from the more common type 2 form, which is more often diagnosed later in life and is associated with lifestyle factors and obesity.

Type 1 can be controlled with daily insulin injections. But Britain has the fourth-highest incidence of type 1 diabetes in children in Europe, and also the lowest number of children attaining good diabetes control.

Diabetes UK said that in many cases, DKA occurs where diabetes was undiagnosed previously. The charity is calling for better education among parents and healthcare professionals of the early symptoms of diabetes, and access to high-quality specialist diabetes services for children and young people.

Douglas Smallwood, chief executive of Diabetes UK, said: “The number of children being taken to A&E with such a life-threatening complication is shocking. In previous research by Diabetes UK, specialist diabetes staff reported that cuts in diabetes services resulted in an increase in emergency hospital admissions. With increased awareness and education, and more investment from the NHS in specialist paediatric diabetes care, the number of emergency admissions could be reduced.”

Caroline Butler, a specialist diabetes nurse who was formerly based at an acute hospital in Essex, said: “The common first signs of diabetes include increased thirst, going to the toilet a lot and, in type 1 cases particularly, sudden weight loss. But many patients who attend hospital with DKA haven't been diagnosed with diabetes, so the first they know they have the condition is when they start developing nausea and other symptoms.

“Studies show that there should be one specialist nurse to every 70 patients, but in reality one nurse sees up to 300,” she said. “Improving access to specialists is critical if the Government wants to keep children out of hospital.”

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