An Italian Prospective Experience on the Association Between Congenital Cytomegalovirus Infection and Autistic Spectrum Disorder.

Doctors in Italy watched 70 babies who were born with cytomegalovirus (CMV).

They tracked each child for years to see who later met criteria for autism.

No treatment was given; the team simply counted later ASD diagnoses.

Two of the 70 CMV-positive children (about 3%) received an autism diagnosis.

This rate is two to three times higher than the general Italian population.

The finding suggests CMV infection raises ASD risk, not that it causes every case.

Markowitz (1983) wrote the first single-case report linking CMV and autism; Garofoli et al. (2017) now supply the first Italian group numbers, moving the idea from anecdote to data.

Matson et al. (2011) remind us that autism rarely travels alone; their review urges clinicians to hunt for birth-related issues like CMV during intake.

Chuang et al. (2025) map many later medical problems in autistic preschoolers; together with Francesca’s infant data, the picture shows both early origins and later health burdens.

If you serve a child with known congenital CMV, add ASD screening to every follow-up visit.

Pick up red flags early, start ABA sooner, and tell the pediatrician to watch for hearing and vision issues that CMV also brings.