Fever During Pregnancy Raising The Risk Of Autism For The Baby

Research studies show that women who experience fever during pregnancy are twice at risk of having a child with developmental delay or autism spectrum disorder. Nevertheless, experts say that taking in antipyretic medications can still help in reducing the risk. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, one out of 88 children in the country suffers from autism disorder. Even up to know, there are still no details with regards to the causes of autism and the reasons behind continuous increase in the number of cases. This pushed researchers from the University of California to study mothers with autistic children and determine whether they experienced flu or fever while they were pregnant.



Based on the findings, moms who had flu during pregnancy were not at greater risk of having a child with autism disorder. However, moms who experienced fever due to any cause were twice at risk of having an autistic child. However, women who were able to take medications to reduce their fever were able to reduce their risk of bearing an autistic child. Because of this, the researchers have concluded that controlling fevers while pregnant can be very helpful in preventing a child with autism disorder. This is the reason why Dr. Ousseny Zerbo, one of the researchers recommends pregnant women to take anti-fever medications once they are febrile and seek immediate help from their doctor.

The results of the study were very congruent to the findings posted by the Childhood Autism Risks from Genetics and Environment or CHARGE. According to CHARGE, pregnant women who are obese and diabetic also show high chances of autism in their offspring. Obesity and diabetes are similar to fever since all three may cause inflammation in the body. This supports the idea that some inflammatory factors may have a huge role in causing autism. Nevertheless, Dr. Y. Jane Tavyev, director of the pediatric neurology in Cedars Sinai in Los Angeles assures mothers not to panic whenever they get sick or febrile. Medications are always available to manage the condition and fever is always part of the body’s immune reaction to kill viruses and bacteria.  Dr. Coury of Ohio State University also added that fever is not a cause of autism. These findings simply show that both conditions come frequently together compared to other factors.