Stockholm, Sept. 24 -- A major Swedish study of 3.7 million people has found that rare TORCH infections passed from a pregnant woman to the fetus are linked to much higher risks of autism and intellectual disability later in life.

According to the study on the website ScienceDaily, Children with a congenital TORCH infection were about three times more likely to be diagnosed with autism, more than seven times more likely to have an intellectual disability, and up to 30 times more likely to have severe to profound intellectual disability.

Rare infections that can pass from a pregnant woman to a developing fetus are associated with higher risks of autism and intellectual disability later in childhood, according to a large study from Karoli...