Fever in pregnancy raises autism risk

By Helen Albert

Children whose mothers experience fever during pregnancy have an increased risk for developing autism compared with other children, show study findings.

Notably, having influenza did not seem to influence autism risk per se, and women who took antipyretic drugs to control their fever had a reduced risk for having a child who developed autism.

"Our study provides strong evidence that controlling fevers while pregnant may be effective in modifying the risk of having a child with autism or developmental delay," commented study author Ousseny Zerbo (Kaiser Permanente Northern California, Oakland, USA) in a press statement.

"We recommend that pregnant women who develop fever take antipyretic medications and seek medical attention if their fever persists," they add.

The Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and Environment study included 538 children with autism spectrum disorders (ASD) aged between 24 and 60 months, 163 with developmental delays (DD), and 421 neurotypical controls of a similar age.

The researchers obtained information from the children's parents via telephone interview regarding influenza infection or fever during pregnancy.

As reported in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, both ASD and DD were associated with fever, but not influenza infection per se, during pregnancy.

The risks for ASD and DD were increased a significant 2.12- and 2.50-fold, respectively, following exposure to fever compared with no exposure. However, taking antipyretic medication seemed to decrease the risk for ASD to nonsignificance (1.30-fold increase), notes the team.

"Since an inflammatory state in the body accompanies obesity and diabetes as well as fever, the natural question is: Could inflammatory factors play a role in autism?" co-author Irva Hertz-Picciotto (University of California, Davis, USA) commented.

"We definitely think more research is necessary to pinpoint the ways that inflammation could alter brain development," she said.

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