HOST AGE AS A DETERMINANT OF NATURALLY ACQUIRED-IMMUNITY TO PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM

The usual course of infection by Plasmodium falciparum among adults wh o lack a history of exposure to endemic malaria is fulminant. The infe ction in adults living with hyper- to holoendemic malaria is chronic a nd benign. Naturally acquired immunity to falciparum malaria is the ba sis of this difference. Confusion surrounds an essential question rega rding this process: What is its rate of onset? Opinions vary because o f disagreement over the relationships between exposure to infection, a ntigenic polymorphism and naturally acquired immunity. In this review, Kevin Baird discusses these relationships against a backdrop of host age as a determinant of naturally acquired immunity to falciparum mala ria.