H1N1 swine flu may play a role in triggering type 1 diabetes
The nationwide study found that Norwegians aged 30 or younger who were infected with the H1N1 influenza virus, or hospitalised with influenza, during the 2009-2010 pandemic were twice as likely to go on to develop T1D than the general population. T1D is a chronic autoimmune disease in which the immune system destroys the cells needed to control blood-sugar levels. More than 65,000 new cases of type 1 diabetes are diagnosed worldwide annually.Yet the exact cause of T1D is not clear. People inherit a genetic susceptibility to the condition, but an environmental trigger is also needed for it to appear. Viral infections may provide that trigger. Infection with H1N1 influenza has previously been linked with the development of autoimmune disorders including narcolepsy. In this study, Dr Paz Lopez-Doriga Ruiz and colleagues from the Norwegian Institute of Public Health and Oslo University Hospital, Norway, analysed the Norwegian health registries of the whole Norwegian population aged ...