Fever can temporarily ease autism symptoms: Study

Fever can briefly improve the behavior of children with autism, finding that could shed light on the roots of the condition and perhaps provide clues for treatment, a new study reports.

It appears that fever restores nerve cell communications in regions of the autistic brain, restoring a child's ability to interact and socialize during the fever, the study said.

As a part of the study, 30 autistic children between ages 2 and 18, who were observed during and after a fever of at least 100.4° F.

More than 80 percent of the children showed some improvement in behavior during a fever and 30 percent showed significant improvement, researchers noted.

Behavior changes included longer concentration span, increased amount of talking and improved eye contact.

"The results of this study are important because they show us that the autistic brain is plastic, or capable of altering current connections and forming new ones in response to different experiences or conditions," said Dr. Andrew Zimmerman, a pediatric neurologist and study author.

Study data suggest that behavior changes may not solely be the by-product of sickness and, consequently, could be the by-product of a biological response of fever.

"Any leads that suggest new biological mechanisms that could be acted on through treatment are welcomed," Craig J. Newschaffer, professor and chair of the Department of epidemiology and Biostatistics at Drexel University said.

More research, however, is needed to prove fever specific results, researchers say.

Autism is a perplexing, life long mental disability that is believed to be caused by brain damage. The condition impairs a child’s natural instinct to communicate and form relationships, and the child usually withdraws into an isolated world of his own.

Autism limits social interactions and disables verbal and non-verbal communications. According to the stats of Autism Society of America, about 1.5 million Americans have some form of Autism.