Malaria therapy for neurosyphilis at Mont Park Hospital for the insane in Australia, 1927–1928

Bibliographic Data

ID19445441
AuthorsAlison Clayton (0000-0002-3634-234X, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia, corresponding author)
Year2026
Volume37
Issue2
Pages135-158
Publication date2026-06-01
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHistory of Psychiatry (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0957-154X • E-ISSN: 1740-2360
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0957154x251403921
PMID41472393
OpenAlexW7117663126
LanguageEN
References cited41

A century ago, malaria therapy for general paralysis of the insane was a celebrated Nobel Prize-winning psychiatric treatment widely used across the globe. However, in recent years, its legacy has come under increasing scrutiny, with some historians and physicians questioning the claims of it being an effective treatment. This paper, utilizing published accounts and medical record archives, describes malaria therapy for neurosyphilis as conducted by psychiatrist, Reginald Ellery at Victoria’s Mont Park Hospital for the Insane, 1927–1928. It also evaluates Ellery’s claims about malaria therapy’s effectiveness. This research delineates several clinical and research-related factors – such as diagnostic drift, adjunct interventions, and healthy-patient selection – that likely contributed to an overestimation of malaria therapy’s effectiveness. Additionally, it demonstrates that patient outcomes as reported in the medical records are notably less positive than described by Ellery in his published accounts. Consequentially, the findings of this study do not support the claims of malaria being an effective treatment for neurosyphilis

Malaria · Medical record · Medical therapy · Neurosyphilis · Psychiatric hospital · Syphilis · Treponematosis · West virginia · Historical Psychiatry and Medical Practices · Historical Studies on Reproduction, Gender, Health, and Societal Changes · History of Medicine and Tropical Health

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