Whether there may be a link between schizophrenia and bacterial infection?

March 25, 2021  18:57

Many people with schizophrenia and schizoaffective disorder are infected with Bartonella, a gram-negative bacterium, according to researchers at North Carolina State University and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

According to Eurek Alert, the authors of the study were interested in the connection between infections and mental disorders. It has been suggested that the presence of a cat infected with Bartonella is associated with mental problems. The cat carries at least 3 out of 40 known Bartonella species.

The study authors recruited a group of 17 people with stable, drug-controlled schizophrenia or schizoaffective disorder and a control group of 13 healthy people. All volunteers were tested for Bartonella infection in their blood. They also completed questionnaires indicating the severity of the symptoms of the disease and the presence of potential contact with the source of Bartonella.

12 of 17 schizophrenic patients had Bartonella DNA in their blood, compared with only 1 in 13 in the control group. According to the questionnaires, both the patients and the control group reported similar exposure to pets and fleas.

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