Rotavirus Infection in Children may Increase Autoimmune Disease Risk: JAMA

Rotavirus infection, a common cause of gastroenteritis in children, has been found to potentially trigger autoimmune processes, according to a recent population-matched cohort study conducted in South Korea. The findings of the study were published in Journal of American Medical Association.

The research, spanning from January 1, 2002, to December 31, 2017, utilized national registers and data from children and adolescents under the age of 18. The cohort consisted of 86,157 patients who had experienced hospitalization due to rotavirus infection, alongside an equal number of matched patients in the unexposed group. The subsequent data analyses were carried out from May 1, 2020, to October 20, 2022.

Researchers focused on assessing the link between rotavirus infection and childhood autoimmune diseases, drawing diagnoses from the National Health Insurance Database. Hazard ratios (HRs) with 95% confidence intervals (CIs) for autoimmune diseases were estimated using a Cox model, controlling for multiple confounding factors.

The results revealed a noteworthy association between rotavirus-associated hospitalization and an increased risk of subsequent autoimmune disease during childhood. The HR for autoimmune disease in the exposed group was 1.24 (95% CI, 1.19-1.28), with an average follow-up time of 12.1 years.

Moreover, the study's findings demonstrated that stricter definitions for exposure and outcomes in a multivariable stratified analysis still pointed to a connection between rotavirus-associated hospitalization and an elevated risk of developing autoimmune disease (HR, 1.22 [95% CI, 1.16-1.28]).

In a sensitivity analysis, researchers discovered that individuals with rotavirus-associated hospitalization had a higher risk of developing multiple autoimmune syndromes. The risk was substantially elevated for those with two or more autoimmune syndromes (HR, 1.51 [95% CI, 1.31-1.73]) and three or more syndromes (HR, 1.79 [95% CI, 1.18-2.72]).

Additionally, the risk for autoimmune disease increased in a dose-dependent manner with the number of rotavirus-associated hospitalizations (single hospitalization event: HR, 1.20 [95% CI, 1.16-1.24]; multiple events: HR, 1.60 [95% CI, 1.49-1.72]).

While the exact mechanism behind the link between rotavirus infection and subsequent autoimmune diseases remains unclear, the study's findings warrant attention from healthcare professionals.

Source:

Ha, E. K., Kim, J. H., Cha, H. R., Lee, G. C., Shin, J., Shin, Y. H., Baek, H.-S., Lee, S. W., & Han, M. Y. (2023). Rotavirus-Associated Hospitalization in Children With Subsequent Autoimmune Disease. In JAMA Network Open (Vol. 6, Issue 7, p. e2324532). American Medical Association (AMA). https://doi.org/10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.24532