Do maternally acquired antibodies protect infants from malaria infection?

Neonates and infants are relatively protected from clinical malaria. hut th e mechanism of this protection is not well understood Maternally derived an tibodies are commonly believed to provide protection against many infectiou s diseases, including malaria, for periods of up to 6-9 months but several recent epidemiological studies have produced conflicting results regarding a protective role of passively acquired antimalarial antibodies, In this ar ticle, we review the epidemiological evidence for resistance of young infan ts to malaria, summarize the data on anti-malarial antibody levels and spec ificity and their association with protection from malaria infection or cli nical disease, and explore alternative explanations for resistance to malar ia in infants.