Seasonal births in schizophrenia. A southern hemisphere study using matched pairs.
Season of birth of schizophrenics was investigated by comparing 915 carefully selected schizophrenic patients with controls matched for age and sex. While the winter-spring excess of schizophrenic births was similar to Northern Hemisphere findings, further examination of data revealed a new feature: a striking excess of male schizophrenic births for the decade 1915--24. The hypothesis of differential resistance to infection is discussed as an explanation for these findings.
D001315:Australia; D001723:Birth Rate; D006801:Humans; D007113:Immunity, Innate; D008297:Male; D012559:Schizophrenia; D012621:Seasons; D012737:Sex Factors