Flu Vaccine in Pregnant Women Did NOT Increase Risk of Autism

Posted on by

JV Ludvigsson et al. Annals of Internal Medicine 2020; https://doi.org/10.7326/M20-0167. Full Text: Maternal Influenza A(H1N1) Immunization During Pregnancy and Risk for Autism Spectrum Disorder in Offspring

  • In total, 39 726 infants were prenatally exposed to H1N1 vaccine (13 845 during the first trimester) and 29 293 infants were unexposed.
  • Mean follow-up was 6.7 years .
  • 394 (1.0%) vaccine-exposed and 330 (1.1%) unexposed children had a diagnosis of ASD.

My take (borrowed from authors): This large cohort study found no association between maternal H1N1 vaccination during pregnancy and risk for ASD in the offspring.