Potential Effects of Electrotherapy on Acquiring of Malaria Infection in Khartoum State

Abstract

OBJECTIVE Electrotherapy is the electrical stimulation of tissues for therapeutic purposes which uses a specific wavelength and frequency from the electromagnetic spectrum to produce the desired physiological and chemical changes in the body. Insusceptibility to get malaria infection among patients treated with electrotherapy was locally observed, therefore the study was aimed to detect the potential effect of electrotherapy on acquiring of malaria infection to assess the management of the disease endemic in Khartoum state. METHODS This is descriptive cross-sectional study, all patients (101) attending and submitting to electrotherapy unit in the hospitals were enrolled, and their clinical reports were collected. Among these patients 55 were male and 46 were female and were divided into three categories according to the number of sessions, age and gender. The data were analyzed using SPSS software. RESULTS The study involved both sexes (55 males and 46 females), and the percentage of males not infected with malaria after electrotherapy sessions (84%) was higher than that of females (67%) out of the total number. Interestingly one of the patients undergoing electrotherapy sessions had been diagnosed with severe malaria with mental disturbance, the symptoms of the severe malaria decreased from him, and his condition improved after submitting to electrotherapy sessions. The exposing percentage of patients who did not acquire malaria after electrotherapy sessions was approximately 80% with P-value (<0.001) compared to those infected with malaria after electrotherapy sessions. CONCLUSION The study results suggest the potential hypothesis of existence of effect of electrotherapy on acquiring malaria infection, the study recommended to carry out further experimental in-vitro and in-vivo studies to prove and explain the mechanism of effect in order to assist in treatment and management of the disease.