() A former director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says the autism rate in the world has increased significantly.

“I think it suggests that there’s actually environmental factors,” Dr. Robert Redfield told “Elizabeth Vargas Reports” on Monday following President Trump’s announcement on Tylenol guidance for pregnant women.

“Clearly, the previous approach that thought maybe this was genetic really didn’t seem rational when you saw the increase of cases, one from 1 to a thousand … 1 to a 100, 1 to 30, that is probably not genetic,” added Redfield.

Trump discourages Tylenol for pregnant women due to potential link to autism

During a news conference Monday, Trump discouraged pregnant women from taking Tylenol, saying research needs to be done to see if there is a potential link between the pain reliever and higher autism risk.

Tylenol, whose active ingredient is acetaminophen, is a common pain reliever that doctors have long considered safe to use during pregnancy.

Redfield, appointed by Trump to head the CDC, acknowledged that because of the newly released data about the possible link, he supports Trump’s comments.

“There is a tendency in medicine for people sometimes to be willing to step back from recommendations they made in the past and where they may have been incorrect,” he explained. “I think the conservative approach that in light of the data that we have today is that Tylenol shouldn’t be used in pregnancy.”

Autism diagnoses on the rise

Autism diagnoses have increased over the years, a challenge Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called an “epidemic.”

According to the CDC’s latest report, about 1 in 31 (3.2%) 8-year-old children were identified with autism across 16 Autism and Developmental Disabilities Monitoring network communities in 2022. That’s up from the previous estimate of 1 in 36 as recently as 2020 and 1 in 150 in 2000.

Redfield feels the focus on autism brings more “transparency” for those who need it.

“I’m happy to see HHS and our government when they have new information, actually put it out to the public so that the public can evaluate whether it means to them rather than somehow feel that they have to be the secret arbiters of this data until they want to let it out,” he said.

Researchers largely attribute the rise to two main factors: a broader definition of Autism Spectrum Disorder and more widespread screening.