Lee YH, Cherkerzian S, Seidman LJ, et al. - Researchers tested their hypothesis that maternal bacterial infection during pregnancy enhances offspring risk of psychotic disorders in adulthood, and that severity of infectious exposure and offspring gender influence the magnitude of this association. They performed analysis of prospectively collected data of 15,421 pregnancies among women recruited between 1959 and 1966 at two study sites through the Collaborative Perinatal Project. Findings suggest a strong association of maternal bacterial infection during pregnancy with an elevated risk for psychotic disorders in offspring and that infection severity and offspring gender determines the association. Males vs females had a significantly higher tendency to develop psychosis after maternal exposure to any bacterial infection during pregnancy. These findings, if replicated, emphasize making public health and clinical efforts that focus on limiting and managing bacterial infection in pregnant women.