On Thursday evening after the kids were in bed I sat down at the computer with a fresh cup of Mother’s tea and began my research. I was determined to find out more about the virus I contracted, coxsackievirus B4.
In the past couple days I would google this virus and get a whole bunch of information that just made no sense to me. Frustrated with not knowing what this virus is and how I could have gotten it i decided to search harder
So last night I goggled it again with just a little different wording and the first site I click I read the following…
Coxsackie B4 virus is a virus which can trigger an autoimmune reaction which results in destruction of the insulin-producing beta cells of the pancreas, which is one of several different etiologies of diabetes mellitus.
“OH MY, I FIGURED IT ALL OUT” I proclaimed
“I’m so cool, I’m so cool” played in my head for several minutes while I i read and reread the above.
As many of you know Eric was diagnosed with Diabetes in Oct of 2004. Considering it did not run in his family and he was not overweight and did not seem to have any of the risk factors for type1 diabetes we ask his doctors how he could have gotten this and they said a VIRUS. We never pursued what virus, as we were not given the option.
So after reading the above last night, I immediately sent an e-mail to my trusty online doc and asked him the following.
1. Is coxsackievirus B4 linked to be a cause of viral onset type1 diabetes?
2. Is coxsackievirus B4 contagious?
Knowing this is not his area of expertise I hoped for the best:)
He replied stating that my findings were correct and that coxsackievirus B4 is INDEED CONTAGIOUS!
I cannot believe it. After thinking that how, when and where I contracted this virus from will always be a mystery, I may have just figured the mystery out all by myself without a day of medical school:)
Now do not get me wrong I am not at all 100% sure this is how I contracted this virus nor am i 100% sure this is how Eric got diabetes, but it sure makes sense to me!
Now this leaves me a little worried that i may still be contagious therefore worried that I may pass it to the boys. I am not supposed to see my infectious diseases doctor for 2 months but I may just need to put a call into him, just to ease my mind a little.
Positive Chaos 