Acquisition of non-sterilizing natural immunity to Plasmodium falciparum malaria has been shown in low transmission areas following multiple exposures. However, conflicting data from endemic areas suggest that the parasite may interfere with the induction of effective B-cell responses. To date, the impact of blood-stage parasite exposure on antigen-specific B cells has not been reported followi...

The feeding frequency of blood-feeding invertebrates in the wild is largely unknown but is an important predictor for the potential of disease transmission and for estimating the effects blood feeding may have on the host population. We present a method to estimate the mean feeding frequency per individual parasite from the frequency distribution of fed and unfed individuals in the wild. We use...

Abstract This update of the Cromer (CROM) blood group system (Storry JR, Reid ME, Yazer MH. The system: a review. Immunohematology 2010;26:109–17) includes additional variants to (ISBT021), both new antigens and molecular bases underlying null phenotype. molecule on which are carried, CD55 (DAF), is an important receptor for malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, role in health disease contin...

Sarcocystis aucheniae are apicomplexan protozoa that infect South American camelids (SACs), giving rise to macroscopic cysts similar to rice grains in skeletal muscles. Visual detection of macrocysts in slaughtered animals hampers commercialization of SAC meat, a highly relevant economic exploitation for Andean rural families. Importantly, the consumption of undercooked S. aucheniae-infested me...

It has often been suggested that vector-borne parasites alter their vector's feeding behaviour to increase their transmission, but these claims are often based on laboratory studies and lack rigorous testing in a natural situation. We show in this field study that the malaria parasite, Plasmodium falciparum, alters the blood-feeding behaviour of its mosquito vector, Anopheles gambiae s.l., in t...

Development of severe disease in Plasmodium falciparum malaria infection is thought to be, at least in part, due to the sequestration of trophozoite-stage infected red blood cells in the microvasculature. The process of cytoadherence is mediated by binding of the parasite protein PfEMP-1 on the surface of infected red blood cells to endothelial cell receptors. Although antimalarial treatments r...

The use of asexual blood-stage proteins as malaria vaccines is strongly supported by experimental data directly implicating antibodies induced by these antigens in parasite clearance and protection from re-challenge. The selection of blood-stage antigens is based on their ability to interfere with the pathogenesis of clinical malaria by reducing parasitemias. These vaccines could complement oth...

Red blood cells (RBCs) parasitized by Plasmodium falciparum are rigid and poorly deformable and show abnormal circulatory behavior. During parasite development, knob-associated histidinerich protein (KAHRP) and P falciparum erythrocyte membrane protein 3 (PfEMP3) are exported from the parasite and interact with the RBC membrane skeleton. Using micropipette aspiration, the membrane shear elastic...