Targets and Mechanisms Associated with Protection from Severe Plasmodium falciparum Malaria in Kenyan Children.

ABSTRACT: Severe malaria (SM) is a life-threatening complication of infection with Plasmodium falciparum Epidemiological observations have long indicated that immunity against SM is acquired relatively rapidly, but prospective studies to investigate its immunological basis are logistically challenging and have rarely been undertaken. We investigated the merozoite targets and antibody-mediated mechanisms associated with protection against SM in Kenyan children aged 0 to 2 years. We designed a unique prospective matched case-control study of well-characterized SM clinical phenotypes nested within a longitudinal birth cohort of children (n= 5,949) monitored over the first 2 years of life. We quantified immunological parameters in sera collected before the SM event in cases and their individually matche

SUBMITTER: Murungi LM 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4807498 | biostudies-literature | 2016 Apr

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature