State Researchers Taking Part In Autism Study

(AP) DENVER Colorado researchers are joining a five-year, $6 million national study intended to help find out what might be causing the rising rate of autism among children.

The project coordinated by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will be the largest effort to date to understand the disorder. It has a goal of studying 3,000 children.

"We'll have three groups of kids -- one group with autism, another with other developmental disabilities and another will be typical kids," said Dr. Lisa Miller of the Colorado state health department. They hope to recruit participants early next year.

The study will also involve detailed surveys of parents, Miller said, as well as tests on hair and blood samples from the families to look for genetic factors linked to autism.

Rates of diagnosed autism have climbed from roughly one case in 10,000 births in the 1980s to about one case out of every 166 births in 2003, the CDC said. There is disagreement among experts about the prevalence of autism and the accuracy of its diagnosis.

According to the CDC, the national study will focus on genetics and other factors with a suspected connection to autism. Absent from the list is a specific focus on vaccinations as a cause of autism, though the CDC said vaccines will be looked at.

"Clearly, getting a vaccine is a treatment that can cause the body to have an immune response, so that fits" with one of the factors being examined, said Diana Schendel, a specialist in development disorders with the CDC.

Researchers will also look at the mother's vaccine history, including whether she had a flu shot containing the mercury derivative thimerosal while pregnant. Thimerosal was routinely used as a preservative in vaccines, though its used has been generally been phased out in routine vaccines.

Besides Colorado researchers, study participants include the CDC, Kaiser Foundation Research Institute in California, Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore, the University of North Carolina and the University of Pennsylvania

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