Type 1 diabetes is a condition in which the pancreatic beta cells fail to secrete insulin. This is known as an absolute insulin deficiency, characterized by hyperglycemia and the breakdown of fats and protein in order to meet the energy demands of the body. The catabolism of fats and protein predisposes insulin dependent diabetics to an accumulation of ketone bodies and subsequent ketoacidosis. Insulin dependent diabetics require a continuous supply of insulin to prevent ketoacidosis and maintain a stable blood sugar concentration. Type 1 diabetes typically occurs in people younger than 30 years of age.
It is thought that the disease is caused by a genetic predisposition for an abnormal immune response to beta cells in the Islets of Langerhans. Islet cell antibodies have been detected in 60-95 percent of persons with type 1 diabetes. Some of the potential triggers to this autoimmune response include Coxsackie virus, vaccination, other viral loads, and fungal mycotoxins. The long-term complications associated with diabetes are serious, often life-threatening, and diagnosed in the late stages of the disease progression. These complications are due to persistent hyperglycemia from poor glucose control. Many of these chronic complications can be traced to alterations in the structure and function of blood vessels resulting in a lack of adequate blood flow. Macrovascular changes include coronary heart disease and peripheral vascular disease, and microvascular changes include retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy.
People with certain health conditions such as asthma, arthritis or lupus, diabetes, cancer, HIV/AIDS, and heart or kidney disease may face special medical challenges during flu season. Serious complications from the flu include pneumonia, ear and sinus infections, dehydration, or even death. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is advising people with chronic medical conditions to get a seasonal flu vaccine and the H1N1 (swine) flu vaccine.
Signs of influenza A (H1N1) are flu-like, including fever, cough, headache, muscle and joint pain, sore throat and runny nose, and sometimes vomiting and diarrhea. Most of the people who contract the virus experience the milder disease and recover without antiviral treatment or medical care. Of the more serious cases, more than half of hospitalized people had underlying health conditions or weak immune systems.
A study conducted during the 2007-2008 flu season in Milan, Italy evaluated the long-lasting immune response of a virosomal flu vaccine in subjects with type 1 diabetes. Virosomes are an innovative, broadly applicable adjuvant and carrier system with applications in areas beyond conventional vaccines. This vaccine is effective even in immune-suppressed patients and infants. Researchers enrolled 105 subjects aged 9-30 years and were randomly given an intramuscular injection vaccination of either one dose of virosomal or a standard subunit. Three influenza-like strains, A/H1N1, A/H3n2 and B, were tested. The virosomal vaccine showed a higher immune response than the subunit 6 months after the vaccination. Adverse effects that were reported were not severe. The researchers concluded that the virosomal and the standard subunit vaccines are safe and provide an effective immune response against the three influenza vaccine strains in older children and young adults with type 1 diabetes. Also, the virosomal vaccine showed a better long-lasting immune response in comparison to the standard subunit vaccine.1
1 Zuccotti GV, Scaramuzza A, Riboni S, et al. Long-lasting immunogenicity of a virosomal vaccine in older children and young adults with type I diabetes mellitus. Vaccine. 2009;27(39):5357-62.
