Fever Effect and Autism

In a forthcoming Pediatrics, a study reports that fevers of 100.4 degrees and higher were correlated with increased concentration, increased talking, improved eye contact and overall improved social contact with adults and other children. The study is based on, though, observing a mere 30 patients, and it's not obvious from this article how those children (aged 2-18) were recruited for the study, or how fevers were induced in the children (unless I missed something in the article, which is itself probable). The mechanism by which a fever would lead to these outcomes isn't clear to me. Being sick would enable a child with some level of autism to have improved social contact is, though, an interesting finding and theory.