Large study links maternal infection to autism risk

Having an infection during pregnancy raises the risk of having a child with autism by 37 percent, finds a study of more than 2 million people in Sweden1. The study is the largest to date to examine the link between maternal infection and autism. The findings, published 13 September in the journal Brain, Behavior, and Immunity, also indicate that the risk is higher for autism with intellectual disability than for autism alone. http://sfari.org/news-and-opinion/news/2014/large-study-links-maternal-infection-to-autism-risk