Host immune response to Plasmodium

Malaria is the most widely spread infectious disease of man affecting almost half of the world's population. Control of malaria remains one of the world's biggest health challenges. Development of vaccines has been considered a valid and necessary complement to control malaria in addition to the control measures of the vectors. The Plasmodium parasites that cause the disease have many stages in their cycle, each with distinct morphology and antigenicity. Understanding the activation, interaction and effector function of the different components of the immune system in relation to target antigens on different stages of malaria parasites is necessary to achieve complete protection by vaccination.