MALARIA PATHOGENESIS

Malaria is a disease caused by repeated cycles of growth of the parasi te Plasmodium in the erythrocyte. Various cellular and molecular strat egies allow the parasite to evade the human immune response for many c ycles of parasite multiplication. Under certain circumstances Plasmodi um infection causes severe anemia or cerebral malaria; the expression of disease is influenced by both parasite and host factors, as exempli fied by the exacerbation of disease during pregnancy. This article pro vides an overview of malaria pathogenesis, synthesizing the recent fie ld, laboratory, and epidemiological data that will lead to the develop ment of strategies to reduce mortality and morbidity.