E. Andersen et al., ASSESSMENT OF AGE-DEPENDENT IMMUNITY TO MALARIA IN TRANSMIGRANTS, The American journal of tropical medicine and hygiene, 56(6), 1997, pp. 647-649
Citations number
8
Categorie Soggetti
Public, Environmental & Occupation Heath","Tropical Medicine
Sixty-six Javanese transmigrants moving from Java, an area of very low
malaria transmission, to Irian Jaya, an area of high malaria transmis
sion, were monitored to evaluate the effects of exposure to malaria tr
ansmission and age on resistance to infection and the induction of hum
oral immunity. The risk of acquiring Plasmodium falciparum parasitemia
was not statistically greater in children (5-15 years of age) than in
adults (> 15 years of age) during the first 14 months of exposure. Ho
wever, during the cross-sectional survey at 14 months of exposure, chi
ldren did have significantly higher P. falciparum asexual blood-stage
parasite densities. Serum antibody titers to R32LR, a peptide containi
ng sequences from the P. falciparum circumsporozoite repeat region, an
d MSP19, a proteolytic fragment of merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1)
from P. falciparum, were measured by enzyme-linked immunosorbent assa
y. Exposure for both six and 14 months produced statistically signific
ant increased antibody titers to both R32LR and MSP-1; no age-dependen
t difference in antibody titers was observed. In this population, expo
sure to malaria transmission induced antibodies to antigens associated
with immunity to malaria. In addition, we noted an age-dependent diff
erence in the parasitemia density of P. falciparum.