CDC reports rise in Autism Rate in New Jersey and Wisconsin

New Jersey has seen a surge of 12% in new autism cases over a period of two years, federal health officials said on Thursday. Before this, the northeastern state already had the highest rate in the US for autism spectrum disorder. In the United States, the rate of autism remained stable within year 2010 and 2012, according to CDC report.

As per a report by federal health officials, one in every 41 kids in New Jersey is living with the mental condition present from early childhood. But if the new data is compared with number of autism cases in two years, from 2010 to 2012, it is not an uptick, said some experts. They also said that the state is doing a good job by detecting the disorder and providing help to the kids in problem.

There are many health experts too who believe the new numbers by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) are frightening. According to them, the numbers show that the autism cases are increasing and many people around the state are affected by the disorder.

“We’re seeing a lot more children on the higher functioning end of the spectrum diagnosed”, said Randye Huron, a doctor and director of the Institute for Child Development at the Joseph M. Sanzari Children’s Hospital at Hackensack University Medical Center.

Rutgers University’s autism expert Walter Zahorodny believes the health officials found surge in autism rate in New Jersey because the state has an aggressive tracking approach. Zahorodny was also part of the new research.

The data collected by the federal agency found that about 32,581 children have been living with the disorder in four counties in New Jersey. These counties were selected by the CDC to check autism rate. As per the report, boys had much higher rates than girls. They were 23.6 per 1,000, and for girls, the figures were 5.3 per 1,000, as per the CDC.