VIRGINIA, USA — A new data analysis from the Virginia Hospital & Healthcare Association (VHHA) shows that the amount of people with autism diagnoses seeking inpatient care in the Commonwealth has nearly doubled since 2020.

In 2020, there were 2,730 admissions across hospitals in the state for patients with an autism diagnosis. In 2024, the VHHA found that there were 5,326 admissions, which is an increase of 95%. 44% of all those admissions were pediatric cases, the data indicates.

VHHA wrote that the data were not surprising.

"These observed trends coincide with national data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) indicating that the prevalence rate of autism spectrum disorder (ASD) documented among U.S. children has risen from 1 in 150 children in 2000 to 1 in 31 c

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