title: Prenatal Infection and Autism Spectrum Disorders in Childhood: A Population-Based Case-Control Study in Taiwan.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Infection in pregnancy has long been linked with negative postnatal development and health. This study aims to assess the association between prenatal infections and autism spectrum disorders (ASDs) across three trimesters and to probe possible sex heterogeneity in such link.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 4184 children with incident ASDs and 16,734 matched children were identified from the 2000-2007 National Health Insurance Research Database. For each child, information pertaining to the mother's infection during pregnancy, sociodemographics, and medical history was retrieved from healthcare records. Conditional logistic analyses were carried out to estimate the strength of associations with adjustment for multiple comparisons.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Pooled analyses demonstrated that having two or more outpatient visits for genital infection [adjusted odds ratio (aOR): 1.34; 95% confidence interval (95% CI) 1.12, 1.60; false discovery rate (FDR) < 0.01] and bacterial infection (aOR: 1.24; 95% CI 1.06, 1.43; FDR < 0.05) in the third trimester were slightly associated with increased risk of ASDs. No statistically significant sex differences were found.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The present study contributes updated population-based evidence about the connection between prenatal infection and ASDs. Potential effect of bacterial and genital tract infections during the third trimester on risk of ASDs warrants further exploration.
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Center of Neuropsychiatric Research, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli County, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Shao-You
authors.initials: SY
authors.lastname: Fang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Anatomy and Cell Biology, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Sabrina
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Wang
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Nicole
authors.initials: N
authors.lastname: Huang
authors.affiliation: Department of Epidemiology and Biostatistics, Michigan State University, MI.
authors.forename: Hsueh-Han
authors.initials: HH
authors.lastname: Yeh
authors.affiliation: Institute of Public Health, National Yang-Ming University, Taipei, Taiwan.|Center of Neuropsychiatric Research, National Health Research Institutes, Miaoli County, Taiwan.
authors.forename: Chuan-Yu
authors.initials: CY
authors.lastname: Chen
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000067877:Autism Spectrum Disorder / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000209:etiology* / Q000276:immunology; D001424:Bacterial Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D008297:Male; D016017:Odds Ratio; D011247:Pregnancy; D011251:Pregnancy Complications, Infectious / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D011263:Pregnancy Trimester, Third; D011297:Prenatal Exposure Delayed Effects / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology / Q000473:pathology*; D060737:Reproductive Tract Infections / Q000150:complications* / Q000453:epidemiology / Q000276:immunology; D012737:Sex Factors; D013624:Taiwan / Q000453:epidemiology
keywords: autism; children; prenatal infection; sex differences