In a study that’s already being greeted with notes of caution, Danish researchers report that children whose mothers had the flu or ran a fever lasting more than a week during pregnancy had an increased risk of developing an autism spectrum disorder.
U.S. health officials stress that the new study, out in today’s Pediatrics, is “exploratory” and does not offer a specific cause of the developmental disability.
The study analyzed data collected from 97,000 mothers of children born from 1997 through 2003. It found no association between mothers who reported common respiratory or sinus infections, common colds, urinary tract or genital infections, during pregnancy and autism in their offspring.
