TY - JOUR
T1 - Infections in children with autism spectrum disorder
T2 - Study to Explore Early Development (SEED)
AU - Sabourin, Katherine R.
AU - Reynolds, Ann
AU - Schendel, Diana
AU - Rosenberg, Steven
AU - Croen, Lisa A.
AU - Pinto-Martin, Jennifer A.
AU - Schieve, Laura A.
AU - Newschaffer, Craig
AU - Lee, Li Ching
AU - DiGuiseppi, Carolyn
N1 - Funding Information:
This research was supported by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Centers for Autism and Developmental Disabilities Research, Study to Explore Early Development through six cooperative agreements: Cooperative Agreement Number U10DD000180, Colorado School of Public Health/University of Colorado, School of Medicine; Cooperative Agreement Number U10DD000181, Kaiser Foundation Research Institute (CA); Cooperative Agreement Number U10DD000182, University of Pennsylvania; Cooperative Agreement Number U10DD000183, Johns Hopkins University; Cooperative Agreement Number U10DD000184, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; and Cooperative Agreement Number U10DD000498, Michigan State University. The findings and conclusions in this report are those of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official position of the CDC.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2018 International Society for Autism Research, Wiley Periodicals, Inc.
PY - 2019/1
Y1 - 2019/1
N2 - Immune system abnormalities have been widely reported among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which may increase the risk of childhood infections. The Study to Explore Early Development (SEED) is a multisite case-control study of children aged 30–69 months, born in 2003–2006. Cases are children previously diagnosed and newly identified with ASD enrolled from education and clinical settings. Children with a previously diagnosed non-ASD developmental condition were included in the developmental delay/disorder (DD) control group. The population (POP) control group included children randomly sampled from birth certificates. Clinical illness from infection during the first 28 days (“neonatal,” from medical records) and first three years of life (caregiver report) in cases was compared to DD and POP controls; and between cases with and without regression. Children with ASD had greater odds of neonatal (OR = 1.8; 95%CI: 1.1, 2.9) and early childhood infection (OR = 1.7; 95%CI: 1.5, 1.9) compared to POP children, and greater odds of neonatal infection (OR = 1.5; 95%CI: 1.1, 2.0) compared to DD children. Cases with regression had 1.6 times the odds (95%CI: 1.1, 2.3) of caregiver-reported infection during the first year of life compared to cases without regression, but neonatal infection risk and overall early childhood infection risk did not differ. Our results support the hypothesis that children with ASD are more likely to have infection early in life compared to the general population and to children with other developmental conditions. Future studies should examine the contributions of different causes, timing, frequency, and severity of infection to ASD risk. Autism Research 2019, 12: 136–146.
AB - Immune system abnormalities have been widely reported among children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD), which may increase the risk of childhood infections. The Study to Explore Early Development (SEED) is a multisite case-control study of children aged 30–69 months, born in 2003–2006. Cases are children previously diagnosed and newly identified with ASD enrolled from education and clinical settings. Children with a previously diagnosed non-ASD developmental condition were included in the developmental delay/disorder (DD) control group. The population (POP) control group included children randomly sampled from birth certificates. Clinical illness from infection during the first 28 days (“neonatal,” from medical records) and first three years of life (caregiver report) in cases was compared to DD and POP controls; and between cases with and without regression. Children with ASD had greater odds of neonatal (OR = 1.8; 95%CI: 1.1, 2.9) and early childhood infection (OR = 1.7; 95%CI: 1.5, 1.9) compared to POP children, and greater odds of neonatal infection (OR = 1.5; 95%CI: 1.1, 2.0) compared to DD children. Cases with regression had 1.6 times the odds (95%CI: 1.1, 2.3) of caregiver-reported infection during the first year of life compared to cases without regression, but neonatal infection risk and overall early childhood infection risk did not differ. Our results support the hypothesis that children with ASD are more likely to have infection early in life compared to the general population and to children with other developmental conditions. Future studies should examine the contributions of different causes, timing, frequency, and severity of infection to ASD risk. Autism Research 2019, 12: 136–146.
KW - autism regression
KW - autism spectrum disorder
KW - childhood infection
KW - developmental disabilities
KW - temperature dysregulation
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U2 - 10.1002/aur.2012
DO - 10.1002/aur.2012
M3 - Article
C2 - 30475448
AN - SCOPUS:85057324663
SN - 1939-3792
VL - 12
SP - 136
EP - 146
JO - Autism Research
JF - Autism Research
IS - 1
ER -