Screening for islet autoantibodies can identify children at risk for developing type 1 diabetes (T1D) before clinical onset. This study, presented at the European Association for the Study of Diabetes (EASD) 2025 Annual Meeting, assessed the prevalence, persistence, and progression of single islet autoantibody positivity in children aged 2 to 10 years. 

The analysis included 104,171 children with sufficient blood samples for testing. Confirmed-positive single autoantibodies were found in 116 children, while early-stage T1D was diagnosed in 259 children. During follow-up, 14 children with single autoantibodies progressed to early-stage T1D, and 4 developed clinical diabetes after a median of 1.9 years. Most children (79%) remained single autoantibody-positive without progression, and a small number lost autoantibody positivity. Rescreening of 11,181 initially autoantibody-negative children identified 8 new single autoantibody cases and 24 early-stage T1D cases, demonstrating the value of repeat testing.

These findings indicate that targeted screening and longitudinal follow-up of children with single islet autoantibodies can detect a subset at risk of T1D and support early monitoring strategies to guide preventive interventions.