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Tuesday, 22 September 2026
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HOW MALARIA PARASITES HIDE FROM THE HUMAN IMMUNE SYSTEM
Monday, 02 November 2020
Malaria parasites survive the most difficult times.
During the dry seasons of Africa, when mosquitoes are scarce, malaria parasites are difficult to spread to new hosts. So parasites hide in the human body by keeping the cells they infect from sticking to blood vessels, the researchers report in the October 26 issue of Nature Medicine. In this way, the infected cells are removed from circulation and the parasite levels in the body remain low, allowing people to become ill and the parasite to go undetected.
Doctors have long observed that the symptoms of malaria, a contagious disease transmitted by fat, decrease during the dry season, which runs from January to May. But the reason is not clear.
Martin Rono, a parasitologist at the Kemri-Welcome Trust in Kilifi, Kenya, says having a low profile during the dry months is a successful strategy for parasites. Knowing how malaria parasites persist without infection can help in efforts to control malaria in dry seasons until the mosquitoes return to carry the organism from one infected person to the next.
During the dry seasons of Africa, when mosquitoes are scarce, malaria parasites are difficult to spread to new hosts. So parasites hide in the human body by keeping the cells they infect from sticking to blood vessels, the researchers report in the October 26 issue of Nature Medicine. In this way, the infected cells are removed from circulation and the parasite levels in the body remain low, allowing people to become ill and the parasite to go undetected.
Doctors have long observed that the symptoms of malaria, a contagious disease transmitted by fat, decrease during the dry season, which runs from January to May. But the reason is not clear.
Martin Rono, a parasitologist at the Kemri-Welcome Trust in Kilifi, Kenya, says having a low profile during the dry months is a successful strategy for parasites. Knowing how malaria parasites persist without infection can help in efforts to control malaria in dry seasons until the mosquitoes return to carry the organism from one infected person to the next.
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