[Comment] Asymptomatic low-density malaria infections: a parasite survival strategy?

Malaria parasitaemias are usually suppressed or eliminated in the human host by the immune system and antimalarial drugs. Low-density asymptomatic infections are therefore expected to be common in high-endemic areas with high herd immunity and premunition in the population. However, it is becoming increasingly apparent, with sensitive molecular PCR-based diagnostics, that submicroscopical asymptomatic infections are also common in low-endemic areas,1 despite residents having little protective or suppressive immunity.
Source: The Lancet Infectious Diseases - Category: Infectious Diseases Authors: Tags: Comment Source Type: research