Infection and Fever in Pregnancy and Autism Spectrum Disorders: Findings from the Study to Explore Early Development.

ABSTRACT: Maternal infection and fever during pregnancy have been implicated in the etiology of autism spectrum disorder (ASD); however, studies have not been able to separate the effects of fever itself from the impact of a specific infectious organism on the developing brain. We utilized data from the Study to Explore Early Development (SEED), a case-control study among 2- to 5-year-old children born between 2003 and 2006 in the United States, to explore a possible association between maternal infection and fever during pregnancy and risk of ASD and other developmental disorders (DDs). Three groups of children were included: children with ASD (N = 606) and children with DDs (N = 856), ascertained from clinical and educational sources, and children from the general population (N = 796), randomly sa

SUBMITTER: Croen LA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC7784630 | biostudies-literature | 2019 Oct

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature