Objekt 1164
Fever/Malaria therapy
Description
Around 1900, a significant proportion of psychiatric patients were suffering from 'progressive paralysis'. These were people with severe brain damage caused by syphilis. The disease was incurable and invariably fatal. However, the psychiatrist Julius Wagner-Jauregg (1883–1940) observed that the fever caused by malaria led to stabilisation or even improvement in the condition. After much research, he therefore decided to deliberately infect patients with progressive paralysis with malaria. The malaria treatment or fever therapy spread rapidly. It was also used at the Friedmatt Clinic in Basel from 1926 until the 1940s. In each case, several bouts of fever were awaited. After that, quinine was administered to bring down the fever and cure the malaria. In 1927, Wagner-Jauregg received the Nobel Prize in Medicine for his discovery.
Object description
Quinine storage vessel
On loan from the Pharmacy Museum in Basel
Hypodermic syringe
Inv. 2018.474
Hypodermic needles
Inv. 2018.475
Clinical thermometer with protective cover
Inv. 2009.675