The medical community is continuously searching for factors that increase the risk of a child developing cerebral palsy. There are concerns that infections in a mother may raise the risk of cerebral palsy, but a new study has found that common colds and stomach flu are not tied to the birth defect.
One of the study’s authors said that other more serious infections and factors like a woman’s history of miscarriage or a family history of cerebral palsy were associated with increased risk to babies, but even then, the risk was low.
Pre-term birth, growth restrictions inside the uterus and being a twin or part of a larger set of multiples also increased the risk, as well as severe maternal infections.
With 10,000 babies in the United States being born a year developing cerebral palsy, the continuing search for causes is likely to continue.
The most significant infections linked to the disorder that were found were chicken pox and cytomegalovirus.
The study did not provide any new significant information about the causes of cerebral palsy, but it did reinforce what medical professionals already knew.
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