WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Autism is more common in the United States than anyone had estimated, affecting about one in every 150 ********, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported on Thursday.
CDC estimated that about 560,000 people up to age 21 in the United States have autism.
"Autism is more common than we believed and is an urgent public health concern," said Catherine Rice of the CDC's birth defects division, who helped lead the study.
