Relation
Perrett KP, Jachno K, Nolan TM, et al. Association of rotavirus vaccination with the incidence of type 1 diabetes in children.JAMA Pediatrics. 2019;173(3):280-282.
Draft
Observational, retrospective analysis
Objective
To compare the incidence of newly diagnosed type 1 diabetes mellitus (T1D) in Australian children in the 8 years before and after introduction of routine oral rotavirus vaccination
Participant
This was a nationwide study conducted in Australia. The study included data from Australian children diagnosed with T1D between 2000 and 2015. During this period, 16,159 new cases of T1D were diagnosed. This corresponds to a mean rate of 12.7 (95% confidence interval [CI]: 11.0-14.8) cases per 100,000 children.
intervention
Rotavirus vaccination for all infants aged 6 weeks and older began in Australia in May 2007. Children are vaccinated between the ages of 2 and 4 months.
Study parameters assessed
In Australia, the National Diabetes Services Scheme provides subsidized supplies of glucose testing and insulin for patients. This registry was used to identify newly diagnosed cases of T1D.
Primary outcome measure
Incidence of T1D in children before and after routine vaccination
Key insights
In children aged 0 to 4 years, the number of new cases of T1D decreased by 14% (rate ratio: 0.86; 95% CI: 0.74-0.99;P=0.04) after the introduction of the oral rotavirus vaccine in 2007.
Practice implications
The incidence of T1D has increased steadily in recent years both in Australia1and in the rest of the world.2In recent years, the rate of diagnosed cases has slowed for the first time since the 1980s and may even have stabilized in Australia.3
This report may be the first evidence that the declining incidence coincides with the introduction of routine rotavirus vaccinations. The decline in diabetes diagnosis occurred only in the age cohort of children born after the introduction of the vaccine, results consistent with the hypothesis that this vaccine protects against the development of T1D. Older children who had not been vaccinated did not show a similar decline in disease incidence.
The decline in diabetes diagnosis occurred only in the age cohort of children born after the introduction of the vaccine, results consistent with the hypothesis that this vaccine protects against the development of T1D.
Rotavirus infection is generally associated with gastrointestinal symptoms, but there is a growing consensus that its effects are systemic and include an increased risk of autoimmune diseases.4Seizures are the most common extraintestinal symptom of infection. Full rotavirus vaccination is associated with an 18 to 21 percent reduction in seizures requiring hospitalization in the year following vaccination.5
In 1998, Len Harrison was the first to report that immune markers of diabetes appeared in children following rotavirus infection.6Recent studies in laboratory models suggest that rotavirus infection of the pancreas triggers an immune attack on the insulin-producing cells, similar to the pathogenesis of T1D.7
If rotavirus infection increases the risk of diabetes, it's only fair to ask whether the vaccine could do the same. Researchers in Finland asked this question and reported in May that the rotavirus vaccine does not appear to increase the risk of diabetes. A large placebo-controlled trial showed no evidence of an increased risk of diabetes in children who received the rotavirus vaccine. In fact, there was a trend toward a lower risk (approximately 7%), but this difference did not reach statistical significance. Their data showed a statistically significant lower risk of developing celiac disease; Children who received the rotavirus vaccine had a 50% lower relative risk of celiac disease compared to the placebo group.8
In the May issue of Natural Medicine Journal, Jody Stanislaw, ND, CDE, introduced us to a concept she calls “beta cell maintenance.”9In early diabetes or latent autoimmune diabetes of adults (LADA), there is a period during which partial pancreatic function is preserved. Stanislaw claims that this function can be maintained through sensible diet, exercise and supplements. One has to wonder whether this rotavirus vaccine could also prove useful in protecting the pancreas and slowing the loss of function from further autoimmune attacks.