Regarding the use of acetaminophen/paracetamol (Calonal, Tylenol, etc.) during pregnancy and the risk of autism and ADHD

The Trump administration suddenly announced the risk of autism induction and recommended usage restrictions due to acetaminophen intake during pregnancy.
While this is being actively debated on Twitter, I am not at a stage where I can definitively judge whether there is a risk or not at this moment. Therefore, those who are pregnant or considering pregnancy in the future should focus on 'strongly avoiding the very situations that require antipyretics' in the first place.

The US FDA states that one should be cautious about using it for low-grade fevers that do not require treatment, but acetaminophen is the only drug that can be used for fever during pregnancy (using aspirin or ibuprofen carries risks), and since high fever during pregnancy is high-risk for both the mother and the child, its use is rational.

The European EMA states that it can be used for acute symptoms during pregnancy when necessary, at the shortest duration and lowest frequency within the appropriate dosage.

The drugs that can be used during pregnancy are limited, and damage to the drugs or the mother affects the child. It is best to properly manage your physical condition and avoid risks, and at the very least, eliminate the possibility of carelessly developing a high fever due to infectious diseases.

Even if you are someone with underlying conditions, in an immunosuppressed state, frail, suffering from COVID sequelae, or pregnant, COVID, influenza, mycoplasma pneumonia, pertussis, measles, rubella, erythema infectiosum, and various other respiratory infections are naturally entering daily life through the active spreading behavior of those who aredefenselessdevoted servants to bacteria and viruses. This is the beautifulnew normalof 'with-COVID,' but there is no salvation because those who should be concerned about their own risks are also happily marching into the Imphal of infection.
I often see pregnant women in town enjoying 'with-COVID' without masks, but COVID infection during pregnancy is naturally a risk to both the mother and the child. A while ago, I saw a pregnant woman on Twitter who made the mysterious statement, 'I'm glad it wasn't erythema infectiosum,' after getting infected with COVID. It is completely incomprehensible to fear erythema infectiosum while using COVID as a source of comfort by treating it as 'just a minor cold lol'.

COVID infection during pregnancy carries a risk of severe illness for the mother and a high risk of causing problems in the child's neurodevelopment.
Whether it is COVID or influenza, high fever often occurs in the acute phase, but the risk of developmental disorders such as autism, which has been seen to correlate with acetaminophen use, may have been in the 'viral infection and high fever itself that requires acetaminophen,' not the drug.

In the first place, we should recognize again that viruses and high fevers can cause serious damage, especially to a child's brain.
Just as with SSPE from measles or influenza encephalopathy, even though viral infections and high fevers at an immature stage after birth can make it difficult to even maintain life or cause intellectual disabilities (the link below is one example), there is no way it is 'totally fine' at an 'even more immature stage before birth'.

SSPE develops some time after measles. Once it develops, there is nothing that can be done; you can only watch the progression of the disease, full-time nursing care becomes necessary, and it eventually leads to death.

What is scary about influenza in children is influenza encephalopathy. It can lead to death, and even if they recover, severe aftereffects may remain. Many reports were made, especiallylast season. It will likely continue this season as well.

This was a feature on siblings of children with disabilities, and the way the dysfunctional family was falling apart was so repulsive that I felt sick reading it. The expression on Mr. Shirai's face in the photo above tells the whole story. It is the face of someone who has given up on hoping and discarded expectations. I understand it well.

Mr. Shirai's older brother developed a high fever at age 10 and was hospitalized. It is unknown what kind of illness it was, but 'the fever damaged his brain, and as a result, he suffered from epilepsy and intellectual disabilities'.

In the past, there was a time when it was considered a problem that abnormal behavior such as jumping from heights occurred with the use of the influenza antiviral drug Tamiflu, but it was later discovered that these were caused by influenza and high fever, not the drug.
As such, viruses and especially high fevers are nothing but risk factors that cause brain damage.
Even if it is just a cold, it is overwhelmingly better not to get infected.

Therefore, to repeat, it is important for women who are pregnant or planning to become pregnant, and those around them, to 'be conscious of preventing viral infections and high fevers that can cause serious damage to the brain of a child, especially when development is immature,' before worrying about acetaminophen. If you do not develop a fever, you will not need to use acetaminophen or ibuprofen.

The best way to do this is to take measures against COVID (a respiratory infection that is airborne). If you take measures against COVID, you can also prevent influenza and others (we need to finally accept the reality that all infectious diseases were lying low until 2022 and have continued to be active since 2023).
The minimum practices are:
・Wearing a mask (adhere it tightly to your face without gaps, ensure it covers your nose and mouth, and do not take it off anywhere other than at home where you might encounter others—it goes without saying that a mask only has a protective effect when worn. Even if protective gear is in your tool bag, if you are not equipped with it, it is the same as being defenseless)
・Ventilation (open two directions to create an airflow path)
・Avoiding risky people and places (dens of maskless people)
On top of this, if you layer wearing glasses, nasal irrigation, nasal sprays, air purification with HEPA filters, and space sterilization using ultraviolet light, the effect will increase further.
You cannot reduce infections to zero, but it is important to lower the frequency even a little, and while continuing the above measures, even if you do get infected, the amount of exposure to bacteria and viruses is significantly suppressed, so you can lower the risk of explosive growth in the body, i.e., the risk of severe illness.


"All or nothing!"It is not a short-sighted 'zero or hundred,' 'life or death' mentality, but rather the thoughtfulness and reason to deal with the infectious disease disaster using the Swiss cheese model by stacking rational measures that can be realistically taken and are steadily effective. This is even more true if you are pregnant.

Do not involve children in the convenience of foolish parents.

Below is a news article

WHO