MALARIA - BIOLOGICAL ASPECTS OF AN INFECT IOUS-DISEASE OF SIGNIFICANCE FOR HUMANS

Malaria is the most prevalent parasite-transmitted infectious disease in humans, with 300-500 million people infected and 3-5 million person s dying from the disease each year [1]. There is, however, surprisingl y little knowledge of the parasite's biology and its evolutionary adap tations to cope with a life as an intracellular parasite within its ve rtebrate host. This article gives an overview of the parasite's develo pmental cycle and highlights aspects of the immune response in infecte d humans and the parasite's mechanisms of immune evasion. In addition, special features of the life cycle of the parasite are presented, esp ecially the invasion process of merozoites into red blood cells. Putat ive mechanisms of drug action of synthetic antimalaria drugs are discu ssed as well as hypotheses explaining the development of drug resistan ce in a variety of parasite strains.