Autism and Rubella Virus
References compiled for Generation Rescue by Teresa Binstock
Researcher in Developmental & Behavioral Neuroanatomy
1. Autism in children with congenital rubella.
Chess S. J Autism Child Schizophr. 1971 Jan-Mar;1(1):33-47.
2. Autistic children exhibit undetectable hemagglutination-inhibition antibody titers despite previous rubella vaccination.
Stubbs EG. J Autism Child Schizophr. 1976 Sep;6(3):269-74.
The etiology of autism is unknown, but autism has been associated with a number of diseases, including prenatal rubella. Rubella vaccine challenge was used in an attempt to retrospectively diagnose prenatal rubella in autistic children. This test was selected because unresponsiveness of antibody titer has been reported as helpful in retrospective diagnosing of prenatal rubella. Fifteen autistic children and 8 controls matched for age were challenged with rubella vaccine. Rubella vaccine challenge did not differentiate autistic children from the control subjects. However, 5 of 13 autistic children had undetectable titers despite previous vaccine; all control subjects had detectable titers. This finding of undetectable titers in autistic children suggests these children may have an altered immune response.
3. Follow-up report on autism in congenital rubella.
Chess S. J Autism Child Schizophr. 1977 Mar;7(1):69-81.
A longitudinal study was conducted of 243 children with congenital rubella. In this sample a high rate of autism and a high rate of recovery were observed. Examination of the data suggested that the rubella virus was the primary etiologic agent. It is hypothesized that the course of autism was that of a chronic infection in which recovery, chronicity, improvement, worsening, and delayed appearance of the autistic syndrome all were found. Other rubella consequences such as blindness, deafness, and cardiac and neuromuscular defects remained present except as modified by operations and prostheses. Degree of mental retardation initially was related to the outcome of autism but shifts in mental retardation over time did not correlate significantly for the group with shift in the autistic symptoms.
4. Autism, bipolar disorder and mental retardation in a male adolescent with congenital rubella: case report
[Article in Portuguese]
Assumpcao FB Jr, Kuczynski E. Arq Neuropsiquiatr. 2002 Jun;60(2-A):324-7.
We describe an autistic male adolescent with congenital rubella who has developed bipolar disorder, discussing possible diagnostic and therapeutic implications.
5. Depressed lymphocyte responsiveness in autistic children.
Stubbs EG, Crawford ML. J Autism Child Schizophr. 1977 Mar;7(1):49-55.
Although there are associations linking autism with prenatal rubella, cytomegalovirus, syphilis, and varicella, the etiology of the autistic state remains obscure. Host defense against the etiologic agents postulated to be responsible for the autism-associated syndromes is believed to be primarily of the cell-mediated type. In this preliminary study, cellular immune function was assessed in vitro by phytohemagglutinin (PHA) stimulation of lymphocyte cultures. Twelve autistic children and 13 control subjects were compared. The autistic group exhibited a depressed lymphocyte transformation response to PHA when compared to the control subjects (p less than .01).
6. Children with autistic behavior in a self-contained unit in the public schools.
Silver AA. J Dev Behav Pediatr. 1986 Apr;7(2):84-92.
The diagnosis of "autism" has been used to encompass a heterogeneous group of children who may differ in etiology, clinical manifestations, prognosis, and needed treatment. This paper presents the results of a comprehensive evaluation, using strict diagnostic criteria, of 33 children comprising the entire population of a self-contained unit for "autistic" children in the public school system of Hillsborough County, Florida. Only five of the children fit the criteria for early infantile autism. Six were diagnosed as suffering from schizophrenia, two as atypical developmental disorders. Twelve of the 33 showed evidence of neurological or recognized genetic abnormality, five had specific developmental language disorders, and three were severely retarded, cause unknown. Of the 12 children with evidence of neurological disease, five had chromosome abnormalities evident on cytogenetic study, two had high serum Cux++, one had histidinemia, one had maternal rubella, and three had dyskinesis of unknown origin. The heterogeneous nature of this group underlines the need for comprehensive evaluation of the autistic syndrome.
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