ReviewFrontiers in human neuroscience2016
Does Rubella Cause Autism: A 2015 Reappraisal?
Review in Frontiers in human neuroscience, 2016. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers.
What it found
Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.
The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 99 citations in OpenAlex.
- Maternal-infant immune signatures in infants at risk for SARS-CoV-2-associated neurodevelopmental disorders.Communications biology · 2026Article
- Finding the Prevalence of Autism in Female Mental Illness: Improving Child Development for an Underdiagnosed and Undertreated Population.Children (Basel, Switzerland) · 2025Article
- Global and Regional Trends in Autism Burden from 1990 to 2021: A Data Re-Analysis and Prediction from the Global Burden of Disease Study.Risk management and healthcare policy · 2025Article
- Cytokines and Madness: A Unifying Hypothesis of Schizophrenia Involving Interleukin-22.International journal of molecular sciences · 2024Review
- Prenatal environmental risk factors for autism spectrum disorder and their potential mechanisms.BMC medicine · 2024Review
- The Autism Spectrum Disorder and Its Possible Origins in Pregnancy.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2024Review
- Rubella seroprevalence among unvaccinated school-aged children in Jos, North Central, Nigeria.The Pan African medical journal · 2024Article
- Microbes and Mental Illness: Past, Present, and Future.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- Viruses and autism: A Bi-mutual cause and effect.World journal of virology · 2023Review
- Maternal immune activation as an epidemiological risk factor for neurodevelopmental disorders: Considerations of timing, severity, individual differences, and sex in human and rodent studies.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2023Review
- Pathogenic Infections during Pregnancy and the Consequences for Fetal Brain Development.Pathogens (Basel, Switzerland) · 2022Review
- Association between Viral Infections and Risk of Autistic Disorder: An Overview.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2021Review
- Intrauterine Viral Infections: Impact of Inflammation on Fetal Neurodevelopment.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2021Review
- A k-mer based approach for classifying viruses without taxonomy identifies viral associations in human autism and plant microbiomes.Computational and structural biotechnology journal · 2021Article
- Infections, inflammation, and risk of neuropsychiatric disorders: the neglected role of "co-infection".Heliyon · 2020Review
- Rubella Virus Infection, the Congenital Rubella Syndrome, and the Link to Autism.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2019Review
- The contribution of environmental exposure to the etiology of autism spectrum disorder.Cellular and molecular life sciences : CMLS · 2019Review
- The Role of the Immune System in Autism Spectrum Disorder.Neuropsychopharmacology : official publication of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology · 2017Review
- The Interaction between the Immune System and Epigenetics in the Etiology of Autism Spectrum Disorders.Frontiers in neuroscience · 2016Review
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
1 author at 1 institution in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
In the 1970s, Stella Chess found a high prevalence of autism in children with congenital rubella syndrome (CRS), 200 times that of the general population at the time. Many researchers quote this fact to add proof to the current theory that maternal infection with immune system activation in pregnancy leads to autism in the offspring. This rubella and autism association is presented with the notion that rubella has been eliminated in today's world. CRS cases are no longer typically seen; yet, autistic children often share findings of CRS including deafness, congenital heart defects, and to a lesser extent visual changes. Autistic children commonly have hyperactivity and spasticity, as do CRS children. Both autistic and CRS individuals may develop type 1 diabetes as young adults. Neuropathology of CRS infants may reveal cerebral vasculitis with narrowed lumens and cerebral necrosis. Neuroradiological findings of children with CRS show calcifications, periventricular leukomalacia, and dilated perivascular spaces. Neuroradiology of autism has also demonstrated hyperintensities, leukomalacia, and prominent perivascular spaces. PET studies of autistic individuals exhibit decreased perfusion to areas of the brain similarly affected by rubella. In both autism and CRS, certain changes in the brain have implicated the immune system. Several children with autism lack antibodies to rubella, as do children with CRS. These numerous similarities increase the probability of an association between rubella virus and autism. Rubella and autism cross many ethnicities in many countries. Contrary to current belief, rubella has not been eradicated and globally affects up to 5% of pregnant women. Susceptibility continues as vaccines are not given worldwide and are not fully protective. Rubella might still cause autism, even in vaccinated populations.
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What OpenQuestion holds
Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.