§ Mrs. EwingTo ask the Secretary of State for Health if he will assess the findings contained in the paper by Gina Delgiudice-Asch MD and Eric Hollander MD published in CNS Spectrums May 1997 on a review of clinical observations with respect to the possible auto-immune basis of autism, a copy of which has been sent to him. [56970]
§ Ms Jowell[holding answer 29 October 1998]: The Department is not aware of the status of the publication CNS Spectrums, or of how the articles are peer reviewed before publication.
Delgiudice-Asch and Hollander describe a number of immunological theories about autism, many of which, as the authors report, are either inconclusive or contradictory.