Etiologies of Autism in a Case-Series from Tanzania

Most autism has a genetic cause although post-encephalitis cases are reported. In a case-series (N = 20) from Tanzania, 14 met research criteria for autism. Three (M:F = 1:2) had normal development to age 22, 35, and 42 months, with onset of autism upon recovery from severe malaria, attended by prol...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of autism and developmental disorders 2006-11, Vol.36 (8), p.1039-1051
Main Authors: Mankoski, Raymond E, Collins, Martha, Ndosi, Noah K, Mgalla, Ella H, Sarwatt, Veronica V, Folstein, Susan E
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
African Languages
Algorithms
Autism
Autistic Disorder - diagnosis
Autistic Disorder - epidemiology
Autistic Disorder - etiology
Biological and medical sciences
Caregivers
Case Studies
Case-Control Studies
Child
Child clinical studies
Child Development
Child, Preschool
Correlation
Developmental disorders
Diseases
Elementary Schools
Etiology
Female
Foreign Countries
Genetics
Human protozoal diseases
Humans
Infantile autism
Infection
Infectious diseases
Intellectual Disability
Language Impairments
Malaria
Malaria - complications
Malaria - epidemiology
Male
Mathematics
Medical sciences
Neurological Impairments
Nonverbal Communication
Parasitic diseases
Parents
Protozoal diseases
Psychiatry
Psychology. Psychoanalysis. Psychiatry
Psychopathology. Psychiatry
Severity of Illness Index
Stereotyped Behavior
Tanzania
Teaching Methods
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Description
Summary:Most autism has a genetic cause although post-encephalitis cases are reported. In a case-series (N = 20) from Tanzania, 14 met research criteria for autism. Three (M:F = 1:2) had normal development to age 22, 35, and 42 months, with onset of autism upon recovery from severe malaria, attended by prolonged high fever, convulsions, and in one case prolonged loss of consciousness. In four other cases (M:F = 3:1), the temporal relationship between onset of autism and severe infection was close, but possibly spurious since malaria is common in Tanzania and there were indications of abnormal development in the child or a family member. In seven cases, (M:F = 6:1) autism onset was unrelated to malaria. The excess of non-verbal cases (N = 10) is related to local diagnostic practice.
ISSN:0162-3257
1573-3432
DOI:10.1007/s10803-006-0143-9