Rotavirus vaccine may protect against the development of diabetes

For the first time in nearly 40 years, the number of Australian children diagnosed with type 1 diabetes has begun to decline. This may be related to the introduction of mandatory rotavirus vaccination, study finds.

In Australia, a vaccine for rotavirus – the most common cause of severe diarrhea in young children – was added to the vaccination calendar in 2007. During a study of children there, in whomors diagnosed with type 1 diabetes between 2000 and 2015, the researchers found that the number of cases ofoin significantly decreased since the introduction of the vaccine.

– Although not conclusive, our latest study suggests that preventing rotavirus infection in Australian infants through vaccination may roalso reduce the risk of type 1 diabetes in someorych infants with genetic risk,” said Len Harrison of the University of Melbourne.

The findings were published in the journal „JAMA Pediatrics”.

Researchers poreownali cases of type 1 diabetes diagnosed in the 8 years before and after the introduction of the rotavirus vaccine. They found a 14 percent decrease in cases ofoin type 1 diabetes in children up to 4 years of age, but unchanged in children 5 to 14 years of age. Children under the age of 5 were born after the introduction of an oral vaccine.

This is the first instance of a decline in the number of casesoin type 1 diabetes in young children in Australia since the 1980s. 1980s. Although the finding does not conclusively link the rotavirus vaccine to protection against type 1 diabetes, it builds on previous research suggesting that natural rotavirus infection may be a risk factor for type 1 diabetes.

A decrease in the number of diagnosed cases ofoin type 1 diabetes in children correlates with the introduction of the oral rotavirus vaccine into Australia’s National Immunization Program in 2007.

– Twenty years ago, our teamoł revealed a link between the emergence of markeroin immune type 1 diabetes in children vs. rotavirus infection. Subsequent studies in laboratory models suggested that the infection of the comoThe rec of the pancreas by rotavirus can trigger an immune attack against the cells of theorkom producing insulin – as in type 1 diabetes – explained Harrison.

It appears that the vaccine stops the process. The rotavirus vaccine is routinely administered to Australian infants at the age of twooch and four months to protect against a severe, potentially life-threatening form of diarrhea.

Since the 1980s, the prevalence of type 1 diabetes has steadily increased in Australia and around the world, but the reasons for this increase are poorly understood. Type 1 diabetes is a serious, lifelong autoimmune condition in which theorym the body’s immune system destroys the comopancreatic cells that produce insulin.

– Although inconclusive, our latest study suggests that preventing rotavirus infection in Australian infants through vaccination may rohe reduction in the risk of type 1 diabetes. We will continue our research to take a closer look at this correlation, porownn records on the health status of young children with or without type 1 diabetes – noted Harrison.