Schizophrenia: A Pathogenetic Autoimmune Disease Caused by Viruses and Pathogens and Dependent on Genes

Table 1

Some of the pathogens implicated in Schizophrenia, either in relation to maternal infection, or to infection in later life.

Pre- and perinatal maternal infection	Juvenile (in offspring)	Adult
Rubella (first trimester) [76]: Influenza (first trimester) [13]; Influenza or common cold with fever (second trimester) [16]	Mumps or cytomegalovirus infection; (0–12 years old) [77]	HSV-1 seropositivity related to grey matter volume [78]
Poliovirus (second trimester) [17]	Coxsackie B5 infection perinatally [18]	HSV-1 (in Afro-Americans) or HHV-6 seropositivity: Inverse correlation with HSV-2 and cytomegalovirus [79]
Measles, Varicella zoster or polio (seropositivity at birth) [14]	Childhood meningitis (0–4 years old) [80]	Borna disease virus seropositivty [81]
HSV-2 (antibodies assayed at the end of pregnancy) [82]		Coronavirus seropositivity [83]
Influenza B (seropositivity at birth) [84]		Elevated retrovirus HERV-W transcripts [85]
Toxoplasmosis (antibodies during pregnancy) [86]		Measles virus seropositivity [87]
		Hepatitis C [38]
		Toxoplasmosis [88]
		Correlation with the incidence of Lyme disease (Borrelia) [20]