Is maternal influenza or fever during pregnancy associated with autism or developmental delays? Results from the CHARGE (CHildhood Autism Risks from Genetics and Environment) study.

The CHARGE team asked moms of kids with autism, developmental delay, and typical kids about flu and fever during pregnancy.

They also checked if the moms took fever-reducing medicine like acetaminophen.

Doctors later compared the groups to see if fever or flu changed autism odds.

Kids whose moms had fever while pregnant were almost twice as likely to have autism or developmental delay.

When moms took a fever-reducer, the autism link shrank.

Flu alone did not raise the odds once fever was taken out.

Gaynor et al. (2008) scared parents by linking acetaminophen after the MMR shot to autism.

That study used parent memory after the fact; CHARGE used doctor-checked fever reports before birth.

The two papers seem to clash, but they look at different times—prenatal fever versus post-vaccine medicine—and CHARGE’s data are stronger.

Titlestad et al. (2019) hunted herpesvirus DNA in blood and found no autism link, showing most infection stories come up empty.

Tell pregnant clients to treat any fever fast with safe antipyretics. One simple action—taking acetaminophen—may cut autism risk without side effects. Add fever advice to your parent training packets today.