Of Pregnancy, Flu & Autism

 

Photo Credit – CDC

 

# 6711

 

We’ve known for a long time that influenza during pregnancy can endanger the mother, and unborn child’s life. Furthermore, it appears that pregnant women are more susceptible to influenza than are non-pregnant women.

 

Why is not exactly known, although it is theorized that the normal protections of a woman's immune system are temporarily altered to allow her to carry what is essentially a foreign body - a fetus - without rejection.

 

During the 2009 H1N1 pandemic pregnant women were six times more likely to be hospitalized than non-pregnant women (see Pregnancy & Flu: A Bad Combination). 

 

And in 2011, in BMJ: Perinatal Outcomes After Maternal 2009/H1N1 Infection we saw a study where pregnant women who were admitted to the hospital with an  H1N1 infection experienced a 3 to 4 times higher rate of preterm birth, 4 to 5 times greater risk of stillbirth, and a 4 to 6 times higher rate of neonatal death.

 

Over the past decade we’ve also seen a handful of studies tentatively linking prenatal exposure to influenza (or an influenza-like-illness) with a variety of child and adolescent development disorders. 

 

A few examples include:

 

• In a 2004 study (Serologic evidence of prenatal influenza in the etiology of schizophrenia  Brown et al.) found a 7-fold increase in the risk of developing schizophrenia when exposed to influenza during the first trimester. No increased risk was found for exposure during the second and third trimester.

 

• Another study from 2008 (Structural brain alterations in schizophrenia following fetal exposure to the inflammatory cytokine interleukin-8  Ellman et al.) suggested that it was prenatal exposure to a type of protein - (proinflammatory cytokines, specifically interleukin-8) – produced by the body during viral infections, that can lead (in rare cases) to brain abnormalities.

 

• And earlier this year, research by a team at UC Davis found that fever (from any cause) during pregnancy more than doubled the odds of having a child with autism or developmental delays (see  Is Maternal Influenza or Fever During Pregnancy Associated with Autism or Developmental Delays? Results from the CHARGE (CHildhood Autism Risks from Genetics and Environment) Study  Zerbo et al.)
• • Flu, specifically, during pregnancy was not associated with greater developmental risks only fever by `any cause’.
  • Children of mothers who took antipyretics for fever did not show any increase in developmental disorders.

 

These studies are admittedly small and less than conclusive.

 

And while they suggest an increase in relative risk over pregnancies without fever or viral infection – in terms of absolute risk – the odds that a mother’s fever or viral infection during pregnancy would result in a developmentally challenged child remains low.

 

Today, we’ve a new study appearing in the journal Pediatrics that adds, incrementally, to earlier suspicions regarding prenatal exposure to influenza and the risks of developmental disorders.

 

Researchers followed up on more than 96,000 Danish children born between 1997 and 2003. They compiled a (self reported) history of the mother’s pregnancy (including infections, fevers, and antibiotic use), and compared that to diagnoses of ASD and infantile autism among the children.

 

Autism After Infection, Febrile Episodes, and Antibiotic Use During Pregnancy: An Exploratory Study

Hjördis Ósk Atladóttir, MD, PhD, Tine Brink Henriksen, MD, PhD, Diana E. Schendel, PhD, and Erik T. Parner, PhD^d

RESULTS: Overall, we found little evidence that various types of mild common infectious diseases or febrile episodes during pregnancy were associated with ASD/infantile autism. However, our data suggest that maternal influenza infection was associated with a twofold increased risk of infantile autism, prolonged episodes of fever caused a threefold increased risk of infantile autism, and use of various antibiotics during pregnancy were potential risk factors for ASD/infantile autism.

 

The two major findings were:

 

• A twofold increase in autism among children with prenatal influenza exposure
• A threefold increase in autism among children with prolonged prenatal fever exposure

 

It should be noted that these are relative risk increases, and once again, the absolute risk of having an autistic or developmentally challenged child after experiencing an influenza infection or fever during pregnancy is still quite low.

 

Nor does this study point to influenza (or fever) during pregnancy as being a major cause of autism.  For now, this study only suggests that these could be two of many possible causes for the disorder.

 

And this caveat: This just one study, based on a limited cohort of subjects, that relied heavily on (potentially unreliable) self-reporting of illness/fever during pregnancy.

 

Meaning that we need to approach these findings cautiously.

 

Maggie Fox of NBC News has more on this story.

 

Flu, fever linked with autism in pregnancy study

By Maggie Fox, NBC News

Doctors trying to find some of the causes of autism put another piece into the puzzle on Monday: They found women who had flu while they were pregnant were twice as likely to have a child later diagnosed with autism. Those who had a fever lasting a week or longer -- perhaps caused by flu or maybe by something else -- were three times as likely to have an autistic child.

(Continue . . .)

 

Even without this latest study, the preponderance of evidence continues to show that pregnant women – and their unborn children – are at greater risk from influenza than most people appreciate.

 

Which is why the the CDC and other public health entities continue to stress the importance of seasonal flu vaccination for pregnant women.

 

In October of 2011, in IDSA: Flu Vaccines In Pregnancy, we saw several studies presented at the 49th Annual Meeting of the Infectious Diseases Society of America (IDSA) reaffirming the benefits and safety of maternal vaccination.

 

The CDC has synopsized these studies in:

 

Pregnancy and Influenza Vaccine Safety

 

Vaccines are drugs, and there is no such thing as a 100% safe and 100% effective drug. Even taking over-the-counter medicines entail some risks.

 

But the safety profile of flu vaccines is excellent, and serious side effects are exceedingly rare.

 

The overwhelming evidence shows that the real risk comes from the virus, not from the shot.

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A wide range of effective autism treatments

If we are looking for information on how to perform the steps of autism treatment or therapy of disease on the internet, eating a lot of us will find a variety of methods and strategies for treating autism issues, such as the use of animals such as dolphins, with music, behavioral therapy and some methods of treatment the other.
Although some autism treatments are now widely shared, but as the reviews come back for those of you who may be currently struggling, doing therapy in siblings with autism and your child.
The following are some of the therapeutic methods of autism treatment from my search results on the internet:
First: Biomedical Therapy:
This therapy is found and developed by an organization of doctors who are members of the AND (Defeat Autism Now), some researchers have an autistic child, so they are very eager to do research, and they found that autism can be cured of disease by improving the whole issue of metabolism that is not normal to be normal again, so the brain can work up without interference from other organs, many children with autism who receive a positive benefit from this therapy, this therapy is the treatment of the body from outside and from within the body.

Second: With improved methods of behavior.
Targets to be achieved with therapy in this behavior is that people with autism can socialize with the surrounding environment by carrying out a diverse range of activities that are beneficial both psychologically and motor autistic patients.

Third: the method of music therapy.
By listening to music, the patient will receive the vibration waves that can be felt in the brain membrane so that it will be able to improve the psychological state of the brain of children with autism. The purpose of this method is the better auditory function and can stimulate the ability of verbal or speech.

Fourth: speech therapy methods.
Speech impediment is the most problems experienced by patients with autism, they are very difficult to say the words, even if it could, in his words hard to understand, with this therapy, they will be gradually taught to say the words correctly and precise, this method requires high patience.

Fifth: Applied Behavioral Analysis (ABA)
This method is a type of autism therapy is much in use, especially in Indonesia, the way is by providing special training for these patients by giving praise or other rewards in the form if the patient is capable of doing that is given.

In addition to autism therapy in the treatment of problems, some are using the media as a means of therapeutic animals, such as the use of dolphins and the method proved more effective when compared with other types of therapy.
You as parents who decide, by what method of treatment of autism, to help your child, may be useful.
Thank you.

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Federal Appeals Court Rejects Vaccine-Autism Link

 

 

 

# 4842

 

Yesterday a Federal Appeals court upheld an earlier vaccine court decision (Cedillo v. Secretary of Health and Human Services) that determined there is little if any evidence to support claims of a vaccine-autism link.

 

 

In the previous ruling (2009) Special Master Denise Vowell wrote that the evidence of any link  "is weak, contradictory and unpersuasive.”

 

In it’s ruling yesterday, the appeals court wrote “we have carefully reviewed the decision of the special master and we find that it is rationally supported by the evidence, well-articulated, and reasonable.”

 

While this won’t end the legal battles for compensation (more test cases are on the docket), this is another in a long series of setbacks for those who maintain a link exists between vaccines and autism.

 

The court’s ruling can be read in its entirety at this link.

 

 

Additional coverage of this story can be found at:

 

Autism-Vaccine Link Rejected by Appeals Court

 

Appeals court rejects autism vaccine link

 

Court finds no link between vaccines, autism

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