Australian researchers have made a link between the introduction of routine rotavirus vaccination for babies and a drop in the incidence of type 1 diabetes in younger children.

While cases of type 1 diabetes have been rising in Australia and worldwide over the past few decades, a Melbourne study has found the rate declined in children aged 0-4 from 2007, the year the oral rotavirus vaccine was introduced to the National Immunisation Program for infants aged between six weeks and six months.

The research, published in JAMA Pediatrics, claims to be the first evidence of such a link. 

However, it follows an earlier study that suggested natural rotavirus infection maybe a risk factor for type 1 diabetes.