Recent studies confirm there is an increased chance of developing schizophrenia in adulthood when exposed to certain illnesses or infections in early childhood or before birth, such as flu, meningitis, or herpes simplex.

Dr. Golam Khandaker and colleagues pooled data from different studies, including more than 1.2 million people in published and unpublished data, to find that exposure to viral infections (but not bacterial infections) of the central nervous system in early childhood nearly doubled the risk of schizophrenia as an adult.

Findings support the theory that exposure to certain infections early in life can affect normal brain development, potentially increasing the risk of developing schizophrenia in some cases.

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