MOSQUITO BITES FOR INSANITY

Shannon News, 10 November 1925, Page 4

MOSQUITO BITES FOR INSANITY

—* EXERIMENTS IN A MENTAL HOSPITAL. .Malaria mosquitoes. ar% now being used at an Epsom mental, hospital to infect patients suffering from general paralysis of the insane, states the Westminster “Gazette.” It is claimed that the shock ot malaria acts on the organisms in the spine and brain that are responsible for paralysis, destroys their virulence, and in many cases has the effect, it is claimed ,of restoring th e patient’s sanity. Infection is conveyed through the bite of the mosquito. The method employed is as follows: The patient is taken into a special room having double doors and windows. The room contains no crevice in which an infected mosquito could be lost. Ah expert releases the mosquitoes one by one from a special. box. After the patient has been inoculated, the mosquitoes are caught—a task involving much patience —and counted back into the receptacle. The patient, after the usual period of incubation, develops malarial fever, for which he is treated in the ordinary way. It is claimed that men and women who otherwise would have died insane, have been restored mentally, and some are able to follow their occupations.

Tlie treatment was discovered accidentally. A short time ago malaria broke out among' the patients of a mental hospital in Southern Europe. When the fever passed it was found that the insane sufferers had. regained their sanity. Subsequently investigation showed that the , malaria germ reacted on general paralysis of the insane. The treatment, incidentally, is furnishing malarial experts with new data, and may eventually lead to the discovery of an anti-malaria specific more effective than quinine. For example, the exact period of incubation is now known. It has been found, moreover, that the bite of one mosquito is as potent in producing the fever as the bite of a hundred. Malaria research workers' throughout the world are watching the experiment with intense interest. Sir Ronald Ross, consultant in malaria at the Ministry of Pensions, in an interview Avith the Westminster “Gazette,” said: “The malaria treatment itself should not have any- harmful aftereffects. The treatment is under complete control with quinine. “Although good results have been obtained in \aarious parts of the country the cure is still regarded as in the experimental stage, and .will have to be tried over a long period.”