This common family of viruses may increase the risk of type 1 diabetes

“Significant associations between enteroviral infections and type 1 diabetes have been published. Dr. Ambika AshrafDirector of Pediatric Endocrinology and Diabetes, UAB and Children’s of Alabama, and Deputy Director, UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center, Birmingham, Alabama.

Ashraf was not part of the research review.

“Because it is difficult to obtain a complete enterovirus genome from a patient at the time of diagnosis of T1D, causality has not been established,” Ashraf told Healthline.

Exactly why the immune system attacks pancreatic cells is not fully understood, but health experts believe that both genetics and environmental triggers such as viruses are to blame.

“The contribution of these authors was to systematically survey the world literature and conclude that families of enteroviruses are prime candidates for such a role in the induction of type 1 diabetes. Many questions remain. This is provocative and challenging because Dr. William Schaffneran infectious disease specialist at Vanderbilt University Medical Center in Tennessee, who also did not participate in the study review.

Schaffner told Healthline that there are a variety of enteroviruses, but “do they all have the ability to predispose to type 1 diabetes, or are they limited to certain strains of enteroviruses? ”

Understanding the viruses that reside primarily in the respiratory and intestinal tracts and how they affect pancreatic function “will open the door to further avenues of prevention and treatment,” Schaffner said. told Healthline.

Enteroviruses are a family of viruses that cause many of the upper respiratory tract symptoms that children face throughout the year.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention report Enteroviruses cause approximately 10 to 15 million infections each year.

“Enteroviruses are a large class of viruses that include polioviruses, coxsackieviruses and echoviruses. They cause [upper respiratory infection,] Hand-foot-and-mouth disease, aseptic meningitis, acute flaccid myelitis (EV-D68),” says Ashraf.

Enteroviruses spread throughout communities and schools, causing upper respiratory symptoms such as sneezing, runny nose, body aches, and sometimes fever.

School-age children are also more vulnerable than adults. This is because adults have had the virus before and protected it.

Sonia Isaacs The Department of Pediatrics, University of South Wales, Australia, has conducted the largest meta-analysis in this area. This included her 12,077 participants from over 60 observational studies.

About half of the participants in this study had type 1 or islet autoimmunity, which usually progresses to type 1 diabetes. And in these individuals, the likelihood of enterovirus infection is eight times higher than in those without type 1 diabetes.

Similarly, people with type 1 diabetes were 16 times more likely to have an enterovirus detected in the month they were diagnosed.

Ashraf agrees that while the study is compelling, parents should not be concerned about the increased risk of T1D.

“Enteroviruses are very common (similar to the common cold) and the majority of people who get them don’t develop autoimmunity or T1D,” Ashraf said.

This information will help researchers understand whether vaccines can help reduce the incidence of T1D.

If they could be used to reduce enteroviral infections, they could reduce the incidence of T1D.

“If the virus is conclusively shown to have a role in inducing type 1 diabetes, it increases the likelihood that vaccines have a role in prevention.

There are currently no vaccines available for enteroviruses, but the U.S. National Library of Medicine PREMISETrial.

“Unfortunately, there is no vaccine for enterovirus other than for poliovirus,” Ashraf told Healthline.

Different types of viruses research suggests that COVID-19 infection may also increase the risk of type 1 diabetes in children and adolescents. This leads to the idea that if viruses are a stronger cause of inducing T1D, infection prevention may help prevent the development of type 1 diabetes.

Schaffner encourages healthy habits in children to prevent the spread of contagious viruses such as enteroviruses. “Proper hand hygiene is always important. Of course, if your child develops fever or abdominal symptoms, contact your pediatrician or primary care physician.”

Although it is not fully understood why the immune system attacks pancreatic cells and causes type 1 diabetes, the complications of diabetes are well documented.

Uncontrolled diabetes can lead individuals to several life-threatening conditions. Diabetes increases the chances of heart disease, stroke, kidney failure, and can even cause changes in vision and numbness and tingling in the hands and feet.

Recent study predicts that the number of people with type 1 diabetes will increase significantly from 8.4 million in 2021 to reach 17.4 million in 2040.

This increase in cases comes at a difficult time when there are barriers to T1D care, including the availability and cost of insulin, strips, lancets, blood glucose monitoring, and insulin pumps. “The implications of an increase in the incidence of T1D by 2040 is concerning, especially in countries with limited resources, as health care costs are prohibitive,” he warned Ashraf. To do.

Rajiv Bahl, MD, MBA, MS is a Board Certified Emergency Medicine Specialist and Health Writer.you can find him Rajiv BahlMD.com.