Youngsters born in the course of the first yr of the COVID-19 pandemic—with or with out publicity to maternal infections—don’t appear to be at elevated threat for creating autism, in accordance with a brand new research in JAMA Community Open.
“The dimensions of the COVID pandemic had pediatricians, researchers, and developmental scientists nervous that we’d see an uptick in autism charges. However reassuringly, we didn’t discover any indication of such a rise in our research,” stated research writer Dani Dumitriu, MD, PhD, of Columbia College in a press launch from that establishment. “There was broad hypothesis about how the COVID era is creating, and this research provides us the primary glimmer of a solution with respect to autism threat.”
The research is predicated on outcomes seen amongst greater than 1,500 youngsters born at NewYork-Presbyterian’s Morgan Stanley Youngsters’s Hospital and Allen Hospital from January 2018 to September 2021.
All youngsters within the research have been screened for autism between 16 and 30 months of age. Youngsters born earlier than the pandemic have been in contrast with these born in the course of the first yr of the pandemic.
Included within the research have been 1,664 youngsters (442 born earlier than the pandemic and 1,222 born in the course of the pandemic), of whom 997 weren’t uncovered to SARS-CoV-2 in utero, and 130 who have been uncovered to SARS-CoV-2. Ninety-five had unknown SARS-CoV-2 publicity standing. Digital well being information have been used to determine maternal an infection.
Sixteen p.c of youngsters have been Black, 59.6% have been Hispanic, and 24.0% have been White.
Pandemic stress linked to perceptions of kid habits
The researchers discovered no distinction amongst pre-pandemic and pandemic charges of autism. Particularly, 100 youngsters (22.6%) born earlier than the pandemic and 283 youngsters (23.2%) born in the course of the pandemic screened optimistic for autism, they wrote. The dearth of an affiliation was maintained in a completely adjusted mannequin (adjusted odds ratio 1.40; 95% confidence interval, 0.66 to three.23).
No affiliation was seen in pandemic-era births amongst uncovered and unexposed youngsters, however the pattern dimension was small, the authors wrote.
Our findings align with these of different stories displaying no or restricted associations between prenatal SARS-CoV-2 publicity and youngster neurodevelopment.
“Our findings align with these of different stories displaying no or restricted associations between prenatal SARS-CoV-2 publicity and youngster neurodevelopment,” the authors wrote.
Dumitriu stated excessive parental stress in the course of the pandemic might have altered mother and father’ notion of toddler habits. However for now, it appears the pandemic didn’t produce a spike in autism charges.
“Youngsters who have been within the womb early within the pandemic at the moment are reaching the age when early indicators of autism would emerge, and we’re not seeing them on this research,” Dumitriu stated. “And since it is well-known that autism is influenced by the prenatal setting, that is extremely reassuring.”
