Rotavirus disease is a highly contagious virus that can cause severe illness and death in infants and young children, but there is a vaccine that is highly effective in preventing it. A large new study confirms previous research suggesting that the vaccine may have an added benefit: lowering the risk for Type 1 diabetes.

About 1.3 million Americans have Type 1 diabetes, an autoimmune disease that usually arises in childhood, and there are an estimated 40,000 new cases each year.

There are two versions of the vaccine, both administered orally. One, called Rotarix, is effective against a single strain of the virus and is given in two doses. The other, RotaTeq, given in three doses, protects against five different strains.

Among the 1.5 million children in this study, 40,317 received all recommended doses, 83 percent of them taking the three-dose RotaTeq program.