gutsandgrowth

Home | About Jay Hochman -Pediatric Gastroenterology Blog | Archives

Briefly noted: Autism Spectrum Prevalence

March 2, 2019 9:00 am

A recent study (G Xu et al. JAMA Pediatr 2019; 173: 153-9) uses a nationwide, population-based, cross-sectional survey to provided updated estimates of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) prevalence. The authors include more than 43,000 children (3-17 yrs).

Key findings:

The weighted prevalence of ever-diagnosed and current ASD was 2.79% and 2.50% respectively
State-level prevalence varied considerably with ever-diagnosed ASD of 1.54% in Texas to 4.88% in Florida.
29.5% of those with current ASD did not receive either behavioral or medication treatment.

My take: This study documents the high rates of ASD in the pediatric population and shows that many are not receiving potentially beneficial treatment.

Also, in the same issue, there are three unrelated commentaries regarding vaccine policy (thanks to Ben Gold for these references):

New York City Childcare Influenza Mandate (YT Yang, J Colgrove. JAMA Pediatr 2019; 173: 119-20)
Lessons from California’s Discipline of a Popular Physician for Vaccination Exemptions Without Medical Cause (RD Silverman, YT Yang. JAMA Pediatr 2019; 173: 121-2)
Requiring Human Papillomavirus Vaccination for School Entry (MJ Bayefsky, LO Gastin. JAMA Pediatr 2019; 173: 123-4)

The first of these commentaries discusses the implications of NYC influenza 2013 mandate for infants/children 6 mo-59 months. After implementation, there was an increase in vaccination rates by 11.4% which dropped back after a legal challenge. The second commentary discusses the California State Board’s discipline of a vaccine skeptic, Dr. ‘Bob’ Sears. The final commentary calls for mandating the HPV vaccine. (Related post: HPV Vaccine Eliminating Cervical Cancer)