Determination of the processes driving the acquisition of immunity to malaria using a mathematical transmission model.

ABSTRACT: Acquisition of partially protective immunity is a dominant feature of the epidemiology of malaria among exposed individuals. The processes that determine the acquisition of immunity to clinical disease and to asymptomatic carriage of malaria parasites are poorly understood, in part because of a lack of validated immunological markers of protection. Using mathematical models, we seek to better understand the processes that determine observed epidemiological patterns. We have developed an age-structured mathematical model of malaria transmission in which acquired immunity can act in three ways ("immunity functions"): reducing the probability of clinical disease, speeding the clearance of parasites, and increasing tolerance to subpatent infections. Each immunity function was allowed to vary i

SUBMITTER: Filipe JA 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC2230683 | biostudies-literature | 2007 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature