Rare infections during pregnancy linked to higher risk of severe intellectual disability and autism

Children with infections that were transmitted during pregnency are about three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism later in life and more than seven times more likely to be diagnosed with an intellectual disability compared with children without the infection, a new study has found.That signals that certain infections transmitted to the foetus during pregnancy may have long-term effects on brain development, the authors noted. Such infections, known as TORCH – a group of infections that can be transmitted from a pregnant woman to the foetus — include syphilis, rubella, toxoplasmosis, cytomegalovirus and herpesvirus.