Hospital-diagnosed maternal bacterial infections associated with higher risk of ASD

Hospital-diagnosed maternal bacterial infections during pregnancy are associated with an increased risk of autism spectrum disorders, according to US researchers.

Senior author Lisa A Croen, a research scientist with the Kaiser Permanente Division of Research, was involved with the study of 407 children with autism and 2,075 matched children who did not have autism, which served as a control group.

The study included January 1995 through June 1999 born infants who continued as members of the Kaiser Permanente health plan for at least two years following birth.

"Though infections in pregnant women are fairly common, in this study most were not associated with an increased risk of autism," Croen said in a statement. "Only bacterial infections diagnosed in the hospital were associated with an increased risk. Infections diagnosed in a hospital setting were more common among mothers of children who developed an ASD compared with mothers of children who did not develop an ASD."

According to the study published in the Journal of Autism and Developmental Disorders, women with bacterial infections diagnosed during a hospitalisation -- including infection of the genitals, urinary tract and amniotic fluid - faced a 58 per cent higher risk of having a child with an ASD.