malariotherapy
ther·a·peu·tic ma·lar·i·a
malariotherapy
The intentional inoculation of a patient with “benign” tertian malaria (Plasmodium vivax), a modality used in the pre-antibiotic era for treating neurosyphilis.The data from uncontrolled studies suggest that there was little, if any, effect on the underlying syphilis, despite the nonspecific immune reaction with fever and secretion of TNF and IL-1, as the reports of success were largely clinical without laboratory confirmation. While it was thought that patients with neuroborreliosis (advanced Lyme disease) might respond to malariotherapy, it may complicate or exacerbate an already poor clinical situation (e.g., for Lyme disease) or be associated with clinical malaria.
ther·a·peu·tic ma·lar·i·a
(thār'ă-pyū'tik mă-lar'ē-ă)Synonym(s): malariotherapy.