A Pilot Study on Covid and Autism: Prevalence, Clinical Presentation and Vaccine Side Effects

Brondino, Natascia; Bertoglio, Federico; Forneris, Federico; Faravelli, Silvia; Borghesi, A.; Damiani, Stefano; Provenzani, Umberto; Nola, Marta; Olivola, Miriam; Caviglia, Monica; Politi, Pierluigi; Fusar-Poli, Laura; Fusar‐Poli, Paolo

doi:10.3390/brainsci11070860

Cited by 10 publications

(5 citation statements)

References 28 publications

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“…Only nine studies (16%) focussed, at least in part, on Autistic adults with intellectual disability [ 13 •, 18 , 19 , 20 , 21 , 22 , 23 , 24 , 25 ]. For the 35 studies (64%) including Autistic adults’ self-report data, it is likely that participating adults did not have a co-occurring intellectual disability, since self-report requires the ability to understand and respond to questions (orally or in writing), usually without support.…”

Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Autistic Adults: a Scoping Review

Scheeren

Crane

Heyworth

et al. 2023

Curr Dev Disord Rep

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Purpose of Review The COVID-19 pandemic and its associated restrictions have had a significant impact on people’s everyday lives, including the lives of Autistic adults. We aimed to (a) synthesise all papers currently published on the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on autistic adults and (b) identify lessons for the care and support of Autistic adults in pandemic and post-pandemic times. Recent Findings Fifty-five papers met the inclusion criteria. Most studies focused on the pandemic’s impact on the wellbeing of Autistic adults. Several studies focused on the use of (telehealth) services or the risk of COVID-19 infection/hospitalisation. Summary Autistic adults were significantly impacted by the pandemic, both directly as indicated by higher COVID-19 infection and hospitalisation rates, but also indirectly due to severe service disruptions and social restrictions. Even though there were large differences observed both between as well as within individuals in terms of the negative/positive effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, most studies reported a negative effect on Autistic adults’ mental health. We draw several lessons from this review for the future care and support of Autistic adults, all of which must be underpinned by participatory research methods, that is, where Autistic community members are actively involved in setting research questions, testing the acceptability of the methods and interpreting and disseminating the results.

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Section: Resultsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Autistic Adults: a Scoping Review

Scheeren

Crane

Heyworth

et al. 2023

Curr Dev Disord Rep

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show abstract

“…This could be due to many factors including parental oversight of autistic individuals and concern for more severe COVID-19 illness. A small study found no increased COVID-19 vaccine side-effects, such as fever or fatigue, in autistic patients compared to non-autistic patients ( 18 ). These data support favorable trends in combating the pandemic in autistic individuals, and providers should continue to refer to FDA recommendations regarding updates on vaccination age cut-offs and booster doses to best protect autistic patients.…”

Section: Medical Carementioning

confidence: 96%

A Pediatrician’s Guide to Working with Children on the Autism Spectrum in Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Beyond: Retrospect and Prospect

Sabapathy¹,

Goss²,

Borelli³

et al. 2022

Advances in Pediatrics

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“…Its main characteristics are differences in social communication and interaction and repetitive and restrictive behaviours, including differences in sensory preferences (5). Whilst several genetical and immunological characteristics of autism have been hypothesised to affect COVID-19 infection, severity, and mortality risk (6–8), few studies have focused on differences in the clinical profiles of autistic people and the general population. Both physical and mental health conditions, such as obesity (2,3), gastrointestinal symptoms (3) and mental health conditions (9,10) have been associated with increased COVID-19 infection, disease severity and mortality in the general population.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Investigation of COVID-19 Hospitalizations and Mortality Among Autistic People

Nijhof,

Sosenko,

Mackay

et al. 2024

Preprint

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Background Current evidence suggests the possibility that autistic people may be at more risk of COVID-19 infection, hospitalisation, and mortality than the general population. Previous studies, however, are either limited in scale or do not investigate potential risk factors. Whilst many risk factors have been speculated to be responsible for severe COVID-19, this research has focused on general population samples. Methods Using data-linkage and a whole-country population, this study modelled associations between autism and COVID-19 hospitalisation and mortality risk in adults, investigating a multitude of clinical and demographic risk factors. Results Autistic adults had higher rates of hospitalisation, Standardised Incident Ratio 1.6 in 2020 and 1.3 in 2021, and mortality, Standardised Mortality Ratio 1.52 in 2020 and 1.34 in 2021, due to COVID-19 than the general population. In both populations, age, complex multimorbidity and vaccination status were the most significant predictors of COVID-19 hospitalisation and mortality. Effects of psychotropic medication varied by class. Conclusions Although similar factors exhibited a positive association with heightened risk of severe COVID-19 in both the autistic and general populations, with comparable effect sizes, mortality rates were elevated among the autistic population as compared to the general population. Specifically, the presence of complex multimorbidity and classification of prescribed medications may emerge as particularly significant predictors of severe COVID-19 among individuals within the autistic population due to higher prevalence of complex multimorbidity in the autistic population and variability in the association between medication classes and severe COVID-19 between both populations, though further research is needed.

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A Pilot Study on Covid and Autism: Prevalence, Clinical Presentation and Vaccine Side Effects

Cited by 10 publications

References 28 publications

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Autistic Adults: a Scoping Review

Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Autistic Adults: a Scoping Review

A Pediatrician’s Guide to Working with Children on the Autism Spectrum in Coronavirus Disease 2019 and Beyond: Retrospect and Prospect

A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Investigation of COVID-19 Hospitalizations and Mortality Among Autistic People

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