Africa: Why Does Malaria Recur? How Pieces of the Puzzle Are Slowly Being Filled in

analysis

Some people suffer from repeated attacks of malaria. These can occur weeks to months or longer after contracting the disease. The phenomenon is only too familiar to those who were bitten by mosquitoes carrying the type of malaria-causing organism known as Plasmodium vivax. Whereas the malaria agent in Africa is primarily Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax is the most widespread of the more than half a dozen malaria parasite species that infect humans globally.

An unresolved issue is why people experience recurrences of P. vivax malaria despite having received treatment for the disease. There's also still not absolute clarity about where - in which organs and tissues - the parasites that are responsible for persisting infections hide. Because we don't know this, we can't determine how to kill them. Without filling in these blanks, we won't be able to achieve the goal of eradicating malaria parasites everywhere in the world.

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