Experimental Studies on the Connection of Schizophrenia and Tuberculosis

Abstract

Kraepelin and Morel were the first to emphasize the fact that tuberculosis is more common in schizophrenics than in other psychotics. Later on, Ganter, Zalla and Bonasera confirmed this statement with the support of a wide statistical inquiry. Thus Ganter found the mortality from tuberculosis in schizophrenics to be from 46 to 67%, whilst the general mortality-rate in tuberculosis in the Prussian asylums was only 16.6%; Bonasera found the tubercular mortality-rate to be 61.7%, and Zalla 67.5% in their autopsies on schizophrenics.