TORCH, not familial factors, increases likelihood of intellectual disability and autism

Congenital TORCH infections are known to injure the fetus, but little is known about their contribution to neurodevelopmental outcomes. A new study has found that congenital TORCH infections were associated with seven times the risk of intellectual disability and more than three times the risk of autism. In sibling comparisons (which allow researchers to see if living in the same family contributed to an outcome), the hazard ratio for intellectual disability was much higher: 11.28 — the intellectual disability was from the TORCH infection, not from the family environment or genes.