Women with asthma and/or allergies around the time of pregnancy appear to be at increased risk for having a child affected by autism, researchers from California report.

Dr. Lisa A. Croen from Kaiser Permanente in Oakland and colleagues looked for any link between the presence of asthma, allergies, and autoimmune disorders in mothers in the 4 years surrounding pregnancy and the subsequent diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in the children.

The study included 407 children who were found to have autism and 2095 others without the disorder.

Asthma and allergies were significantly more common among mothers of autistic children than those with unaffected children. Women who had asthma and allergies during the second trimester of pregnancy had a greater than 2-fold higher risk of having a child affected by autism, the researchers report in the Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine.

The team believes this is the first demonstration of a link between autism and asthma and allergic disease in the mother.

They did not find an overall association between autism risk and maternal autoimmune diseases, which contrasts with prior reports that have suggested that such an association may exist.

The researchers say that further investigations are needed “to confirm these results.”

SOURCE: Archives of Pediatrics and Adolescent Medicine, February 2005.