Schizotypy and maternal exposure to influenza and to cold temperature: the Mauritius study

A topic of current controversy is that maternal exposure to influenza in the 2nd trimester of pregnancy may place the offspring at increased risk for schizophrenia. However, exposure to cold and to influenza may be confounded in existing studies, and case finding and identification may introduce error. Use of measures of schizotypy that are dimensional may be used to overcome some of the difficulties of case identification. Data are derived from the longitudinal study in Mauritius, an island in the southern hemisphere, where, in the case of the 1968-1972 Hong Kong/A2 influenza virus epidemic, influenza and low temperature were not confounded. The results suggest that women's exposure to influenza in pregnancy is associated with an elevation of positive schizotypy scores, whereas exposure to low environmental temperatures is associated with an elevation of anhedonia scores in their offspring.