Flu in the womb linked to schizophrenia later in life

Main Category: Schizophrenia
Also Included In: Flu / Cold / SARS
Article Date: 03 Aug 2004 - 12:00 PDT


A study carried out at Columbia University, New York, indicates that a baby who is subjected to flu while still in the womb has an increased risk of developing schizophrenia later in life. The risk is there if the mother catches flu during the first half of her pregnancy, not the second half.

You can read about this study in the Archives of General Psychiatry.

According to the scientists, 14% of schizophrenia cases they reviewed had been exposed to the flu virus while in the womb.
v The researchers looked at blood samples of the mothers of 64 patients with schizophrenia and 125 without. They tested the blood samples for flu antibody.

The risk was seven times higher during the first 13 weeks of the pregnancy.

Dr Ezra Susser, lead researcher, said "These findings represent the strongest evidence thus far that prenatal exposure to influenza plays a role in schizophrenia. The findings will need to be duplicated in other groups of people before we can draw firm conclusions from these results. At this time, we advise against using these results for any public health policy or individual preventive actions. However, if the results are confirmed in further studies, and the pathways are better understood, they could have very important implications for prevention."

The scientists are baffled as to why an embryo's exposure to the flu virus should increase the risk of developing schizophrenia later in life. Maybe it is related to the chemicals that are released by the mother in response to the presence of the virus; perhaps they interfere with the baby's immune system, they said.

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