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BABIES born to mothers who have active genital herpes are at increased risk
of developing psychotic illnesses such as schizophrenia when they grow up.

Although they have not explained the link, Stephen Buka at the Harvard School
of Public Health and his team say there is a significant association between the
two. They believe infants catch herpes during pregnancy or delivery, and that
the infection may trigger psychosis in genetically susceptible people later in
life.

Epidemiological studies have long pointed the finger at environmental factors
in psychotic diseases. Being born in the winter, in a city, or to a mother who
has an infection have all been implicated.

To find out what kinds of infections might play a role, Buka’s team studied
data from 3804 babies born in Providence, Rhode Island, between 1959 and 1966.
Blood samples were taken from their mothers at their first antenatal check and
thereafter every two months until delivery, when the final sample was taken.

The researchers looked at data on the children’s development and identified
27 who suffered psychotic illness as adults. They matched them for sex,
ethnicity and date of birth with two healthy controls also from the original
group. Then they checked the maternal blood samples taken around the time of
birth for signs of infection.

Buka looked for evidence of pathogens known to affect neural development such
as rubella, genital herpes virus and chlamydia, another sexually transmitted
disease. Only the genital herpes virus was significantly higher in maternal
blood samples. There was a significant association between the levels of
maternal antibodies to this form of herpes and adult psychosis, the researchers
say.