Childhood meningitis increases the risk for adult schizophrenia

Objective: We investigated the hypothesis that a meningitic infection in childhood may increase the risk of a psychiatric disorder in adulthood. Method: We conducted a follow-up study of 190 individuals affected by a meningitis infection the first 4 years of life, during an epidemic in Sao Paulo, Brazil, between 1971 and 1974. As a control group, we investigated 156 siblings of the meningitis patients who were not affected by meningitis at childhood. Results: In the 190 cases of meningitis, we found eight (4.2%) cases of schizophrenia against none in the controls, and 40 (21.0%) cases of life occurrence of psychotic symptoms compared to 12 (7.6%) cases in the control group (P < 0.001). We found no differences between the two groups regarding the occurrence of other psychiatric disorders and of neurological soft signs. Conclusion: Meningitis during childhood significantly increased the risk of schizophrenia in particular in adulthood, and of psychosis in general.