UF Health Researchers on Team Studying Possible Viral Link With Type 1 Diabetes

A prolonged infection by a common virus might sometimes trigger the immune system attack on the pancreas that ultimately leads to Type 1 diabetes.

The finding from The Environmental Determinants of Diabetes in the Young, or TEDDY, study was recently published in the journal Nature Medicine by a team of scientists that includes Desmond Schatz, M.D., pediatric medical director of the UF Diabetes Institute and a professor serving as the interim chair of the UF College of Medicine’s department of pediatrics.

By examining the stool samples of more than 8,000 children from the United States and Europe for the remnants of viral infections, researchers found an association between infection of coxsackievirus for 30 days or longer and the development of the autoimmunity that can lead to Type 1 diabetes.

Learn more about UF Health Researchers on Team Studying Possible Viral Link With Type 1 Diabetes.