The viruses that normally give you a sniffle or a poorly tum might be responsible for causing diabetes. This may sound unusual – a virus being responsible for a non-infectious disease – but it has been debated for many years among diabetes experts.

The research, carried out at the Peninsula medical school in Plymouth, UK, involved looking for enteroviruses in the pancreases of young people who had died soon after contracting type 1 diabetes. The suspicion was that the viruses were attacking beta cells – insulin factories. And that suspicion has now been shown to be right – 60% of the pancreases had evidence of viral infection of beta cells. And it could be more common than 60%: “The protein isn’t completely stable, so 60% is a conservative estimate,” researcher Adrian Bone of the University of Brighton, UK told New Scientist.

According to the coverage the story received, the work could lead to a diabetes vaccine (Belfast Telegraph), although other outlets have downplayed that (Times of India).

The study was extended to adults with type 2 diabetes – and 40% of them had enteroviruses in their beta cells.

The story also highlights the benefits of organ donation, according to team member Noel Morgan, saying in a press release:

We are genuinely excited by the findings of our study. This is the first time that scientists have been able to provide such extensive evidence for the relationship between enteroviral infection of the beta cells and the development of type 1 diabetes. This is due in large part to the unique availability of such a large number of pancreases from young people who had died of type 1 diabetes soon after becoming ill. Not only did this give us access to extremely important research material, but it also underlines the importance of continued organ donation to the development of medical research in the UK.

The study is published in Diabetologia.