The threadworm infestations seen in Indigenous communities may have a beneficial effect in preventing type 2 diabetes, researchers from WA suggest.

The health workers from the Kimberley Aboriginal Medical Services Council found that members of their remote community who had S. stercoralis were less likely to have type 2 diabetes.

Those with previous S. stercoralis infection  were 61% less likely to have a diagnosis of T2DM than those uninfected, the researchers reported in Diabetes Research and Clinical Practice. 

The authors said that if confirmed, the findings may have practical implications for the prevention of type 2 diabetes and other metabolic disorders.