A quarterly publication of the Autism Research Institute
Winter, 2019 | Number 1, Volume 33
Two new studies, one involving children in Denmark and the other involving children in the United States, suggest an association between early childhood infections and an increased risk for autism spectrum disorders (ASD).
In the Danish study, Ole Köhler-Forsberg and colleagues analyzed data on more than one million people born between January 1, 1995 and June 30, 2012. The researchers identified all treated infections the individuals experienced between birth and June 30, 2013, including both severe infections requiring hospitalizations and less severe infections treated with antibiotics by primary care doctors. In addition, they identified all mental disorders diagnosed in a hospital setting and any filled prescriptions for psychotropic medication.
The researchers found that infections requiring hospitalizations were associated with a significantly increased risk of developing a mental disorder. “In particular,” they say, “Schizophrenia spectrum disorders, obsessive-compulsive disorder, personality and behavior disorders, mental retardation, autistic spectrum disorder, attention-deficit/ hyperactivity disorder, oppositional defiant disorder and conduct disorder, and tic disorders were associated with the highest risks after infections.” The risk of receiving a psychiatric diagnosis following an infection requiring a hospital stay was highest in the first three months, lessening after that. Minor infections slightly increased the risk for some diagnoses but not for ASD. In the U.S. study, Katherine Sabourin and colleagues reviewed data collected on children through the Study to Explore Early Development (SEED) project. The researchers report, “We found that children with ASD were more likely to have an infection in the first 28 days of life and before age three compared to children with typical development. Children with ASD were also more likely than children with other developmental delays or disorders to have an infection in the first 28 days of life.” In addition, they found that children with regressive ASD had 1.6 times the odds of infection during the first year of life compared to cases without regression.
“A nationwide study in Denmark of the association between treated infections and the subsequent risk of treated mental disorders in children and adolescents,” O. Köhler-Forsberg, L. Petersen, C. Gasse, P. B. Mortensen, S. Dalsgaard, R. H. Yolken, O. Mors, and M. E. Benros, JAMA Psychiatry, December 5, 2018 (epub prior to print
publication). Address: Ole Köhler-Forsberg, Psychosis Research Unit, Aarhus University Hospital, Risskov, Denmark.
—and—
“Infections in children with autism spectrum disorder: Study to Explore Early Development (SEED),” K. R. Sabourin, A. Reynolds, D. Schendel, S. Rosenberg, L. A. Croen, J. A. Pinto-Martin, L. A. Schieve, C. Newschaffer, L. C. Lee, and C. DiGuiseppi, Autism Research, Vol. 12, No. 1, January 2019, 136-146. Address: Katherine Sabourin, Department of Epidemiology, Colorado School of Public Health, University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, Aurora, CO 80045, [email protected].
