NBC News
In the United States, one in 31 children receives a diagnosis of autistic spectrum disorder before turning 8, the centers for disease control and prevention (CDC) reported on Tuesday.
The finding, based on an analysis of medical records of 2022, reflects a drastic increase in autism in the last two decades. Previous CDC reports showed that 1 in 54 8 -year -old children had been diagnosed with autism in 2016. In 2000, the figure was 1 in 150.
“The most surprising of this is the incredible frequency with which the manifestations of autism are presented,” said Zachary Warren, author of the new report.
Warren, also executive director of the Institute for Treatment and Research of Autism Spectrum Disorders (Triad) of the Vanderbilt Kennedy center in Nashville, Tennessee, greatly attributed these increases to improvements in the detection of this development disorder.
Doctors are more effective than ever in the identification of autism, and awareness of this disorder has reached its historical maximum point. “Without a doubt, we have become exceptionally efficient in this surveillance work,” Warren said.
What other factors could be causing the increase in autism?
The answers are unfinished and extremely complex. The possible causes have been analyzed for decades, and there seems to not be a single irrefutable test. The main theory lies in genetics.
“We have quite convincing data that indicate that there are causes of autism, not a single cause,” said Warren. “We could have hundreds, if not thousands, of different neurogenetic factors that influence the manifestations of autism.”
Despite proven investigations that demonstrate otherwise, the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has repeatedly suggested that vaccines, specifically those that protect against measles, papers and rubella, are related to autism.
This relationship has been widely discredited, but continues to contribute to the decrease in vaccination in the United States, even in the midst of a growing measles outbreak that has ill to hundreds of people and caused the death of two young children in Texas.
The study of the CDC also analyzed autism diagnoses in 4 -year -old children, estimated at 1 in 34 in 2022.
The boys had three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism than girls. The diagnoses were also more common among black and Hispanic minors compared to whites.
The disorder seems to be a central theme of the Trump administration. Both the president and Kennedy have affirmed that it is essential to find the cause of autism in children.
During a meeting at the White House last week, Kennedy said that his agency will promote a “massive effort of tests and research” to find the cause of autism for September.
It was not clear how the initiative of previous research HHS would differentiate.
