Autism & Hepatitis-A Rates in Decline
The Los Angeles Times Newspaper reported that autism rates seem to be declining in California, and that Hepatitis-A rates have shrunk by 76% since 1999.
Autism is a brain disorder that interferes with a person's ability to communicate with and relate to other people. It starts developing when a child is about three years old.
Usually, parents start noticing behavioral differences when their toddlers do not talk or do not respond and interact like other children of the same age. Toddlers with autism do not usually develop speech normally and may seem to be deaf, although hearing tests prove that their hearing is normal. Autism affects how a child perceives and processes sensory information, and some with autism show signs of frequent depression during teenage years and possibly diminished intelligence.
With autism, some people need assistance in almost all aspects of their lives; others are able to function at a very high level and can even attend regular school.
Treatment can make a major difference in the lives of people with autism. Early diagnosis and comprehensive treatment has resulted in increasing numbers of people with autism being able to live independently as adults. California has approximately 28,000 cases of autism it is treating.
Although the exact cause is unknown, it tends to run in families. And although it seems to be genetic, California cases have been leveling off to a decline in the rate of autism.
This decline in autism in California has a parallel with a national decline in hepatitis-A. The two conditions are not related--one is seemingly genetic and the other is a contagion.
Hepatitis-A is a liver infection caused by the hepatitis-A virus. Hepatitis-A usually causes temporary liver inflammation; most people recover without any long-term liver problems.
Symptoms of hepatitis-A usually last less than 2 months. Some of those symptoms include the following:
- Extreme tiredness (fatigue).
- Fever.
- Sore muscles.
- Headache.
- Pain on the right side of the abdomen, under the rib cage (where the liver is located).
- Nausea.
- Loss of appetite and weight loss.
- Yellowing of the skin and the white part of the eyes (jaundice), sometimes along with dark urine and clay-colored stools. Jaundice is less common in children and young adults than in older people.
The CDC reports that since 1999, Hepatitis-A has shrunk by 76%. In the past, this condition was primarily associated with gay men and anal sex, however, if hepatitis-A gets into a water supply many can be infected.
Staff
7.18.05
