Continued increase in childhood diabetes - new vaccine will help

There is no indication that childhood diabetes will end.

Reported cases have increased since last year in Norrköping, but decreased slightly in Linköping.

For a long time, the world-renowned diabetes researcher and pediatrician at Linköping University Johnny Ludvigsson has tried to develop a vaccine, called the GAD vaccine, against type 1 diabetes.

Cannot be cured

Recently, his research team has tried to inject this into the lymph node to prolong insulin production and prevent beta cells from dying.

- It is not about curing diabetes but at least being able to maintain the insulin production that remains when the child falls ill, he describes.

The GAD vaccine has given positive results to a group of patients and has laid the foundation for a further study to ensure the effect of the treatment.

Previous studies of different vaccine types have also been made over the years by research groups in countries such as the USA, Finland and Sweden.

Intestinal bacteria can play a role

- We have also seen that some children have other types of intestinal bacteria that may protect against the disease, Johhny Ludvigsson explains.

He is referring to the project with the so-called ABIS children (all children in south-eastern Sweden).

The study includes children born in 1997-1999.

They have been followed since birth and have had to leave different samples such as feces, blood samples and breast milk and it has shown how different groups developed type 1 diabetes.

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to the lab where Johnny Ludvigsson

more about their research on type 1 diabetes in children.