And reading the tragic account lower down of a reader whose daughter's communication collapsed after MMR, I recall that my close relative with an ASD diagnosis (the trouble is really extraordinary high anxiety levels) has unusual reactions to infections. There was barely a cold in childhood (and other parents of ASD children noted the same) - I wondered if there was a link to iron deficiency. But when swine flu came there was a very strong reaction to it, and some viral infection in the teens caused something like a minor nervous breakdown. The symptoms were felt as hugely magnified, hugely distressing, and perhaps they were also actually worse.