US Pharm. 2016;41((7):HS-20.
In a study appearing in the May 3, 2016 issue of JAMA, Anette-Gabriele Ziegler, MD, of Helmholtz Zentrum Munchen, Munich, Germany, and colleagues looked into the links between infection types during the first 2 years of life and between respiratory tract infections (RTIs) in the first 6 months and type l diabetes (T1D). Viral infections, particularly enteroviruses, have been hypothesized to cause T1D, and recent studies suggest that RTIs are associated with increased T1D risk if they are encountered within the first 6 months.
Using data for patients in Bavaria, Germany, the study included 295,420 infants, 720 of whom were diagnosed with T1D over a median follow-up of 8.5 years, for an incidence of 29 diagnoses per 100,000 children annually. At least one infection was reported during the first 2 years of life in 93% of all children and in 97% of children with T1D.
The researchers found that T1D risk was increased in children who had an RTI between birth and 2.9 months or between 3 and 5.9 months of age compared with children who had no RITs in these age intervals
