Children who have had enterovirus are at increased risk for developing type 1 diabetes compared with children who have not had the virus, according to recent findings published in Diabetologia.
Tsai Chung-Li, MD, of China Medical University in Taiwan, and colleagues used data from Taiwan’s national health insurance system to evaluate 570,133 children younger than 18 years with enterovirus infection and 570,133 age-matched controls without enterovirus infection to determine its effect on type 1 diabetes incidence.
After 1 year of follow-up, type 1 diabetes risk increased by 50% among the enterovirus group. The enterovirus group also was more susceptible to type 1 diabetes compared with the non-enterovirus group (HR=1.48; 95% CI, 1.19-1.83). Those who entered the study at older than 10 years also were at greater risk (HR=2.18; 95% CI, 1.18-4.04).
