Exposure to Infection in Pregnancy May Increase Risk of Autism, Depression

Autism spectrum disorder and depression were more common in Swedish children and adults born to mothers who had experienced infections during pregnancy while hospitalized, according to astudy published inJAMA Psychiatry. The study is one of the first to evaluate a generalized effect of infection and inflammation during pregnancy on a broad spectrum of psychiatric disorders, wrote the authors.“The developmental origins of mental illness are incompletely understood,” wrote Benjamin al-Haddad, M.D., M.Sc., Ph.D., of the Seattle Children’s Hospital and University of Washington, Seattle, and colleagues. “Maternal and fetal inflammatory responses to infection may alter fetal neurodeve lopment, as suggested in some children with autism.”The researchers used population-based registries to observe approximately one million children born between 1973 and 2014 in Sweden for up to 41 years. Infection and psychiatric diagnoses were derived using codes from hospitalizations. Hospitalization categories for pregnant women included any infection, severe infections, and urinary tract infections (UTIs) to further investigate whether the magnitude of risk to children differed by the type and severity of infection.The risks of autism and depression increased 79% and 24%, respectively, among children and adults exposed to any maternal infection during pregnancy. Similar results were obtained for exposure to severe infections and UTIs, suggesting that type and severity of infection have n...
Source: Psychiatr News - Category: Psychiatry Tags: autism Benjamin al-Hadad bipolar disorder depression infection pregnancy psychosis urinary tract infection Source Type: research