Mar 31, 2014 12:40 PM EDT By Jaleesa Baulkman, UniversityHerald Reporter

A childhood virus has been linked to an increase risk of type 1 diabetes, according to a recent study.

Researchers from the University of Melbourne in Australia found that the common cause of severe diarrhea in children, the rotavirus infection, has been shown to accelerate the development of type 1 diabetes in mice, according to a press release. They suggest that it may be the "bystander effect" that causes the infection to accelerate the onset of the metabolic disease.

The "bystander effect" suggests that the virus provokes a strong activation of the immune system, which then spills over, "allowing the immune system to attack not only the viral intruder but some of the body's own cells, in this case the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas," researchers explained in a press release.

"This bystander mechanism provides a potential explanation for the acceleration of type 1 diabetes development by rotavirus infection in mice," Barbara Coulson, lead researcher and associate professor at the Peter Doherty Institute for Infection and Immunity at the University of Melbourne, said in a statement. "It is possible that the same process could operate following human rotavirus infection, and lead to a more rapid progression of children towards type 1 diabetes."

For the study, researchers explored the ways the rotavirus infection contributes to autoimmune disease in mice. They believe the breakthrough could be relevant to human infection with rotavirus.

Coulson said further studies are needed to determine the relevance of the findings to humans.

"Ultimately, this should help us understand the link between virus infection and the development of type 1 diabetes, she said.

Coulson added that understanding how rotavirus affects human type 1 diabetes development is expected to facilitate the implementation of preventative treatment for children at risk this disease.

"For example, treatments that dampen down the particular type of immune response caused by rotavirus may be beneficial," she concluded.

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