ATYPICAL IGG SUBCLASS ANTIBODY-RESPONSES TO PLASMODIUM-FALCIPARUM ASEXUAL STAGE ANTIGENS

The ability of Plasmodium falciparum to induce long-term immunity in t he absence of continual restimulation has often been questioned. Recen tly it has been shown that, while a high proportion of individuals liv ing in areas of high malaria endemicity have antibodies to merozoite s urface antigen 2 (MSA2; MSP2) of P. falciparum, these antibodies ave p rimarily of the IgG3 subclass. In this article, Antonio Ferrante and C hristine Rzepczyk discuss how such atypical antibody responses may in part explain why immunity to malaria has been widely perceived to be s hort-lived.