An Intensive Longitudinal Cohort Study of Malian Children and Adults Reveals No Evidence of Acquired Immunity to Plasmodium falciparum Infection

Abstract

Despite years of exposure to intense P. falciparum transmission, there is no evidence of acquired, sterile immunity to P. falciparum infection in this population, even as clinical immunity to blood-stage malaria is clearly acquired. Understanding why repeated P. falciparum infections do not induce sterile protection may lead to insights for developing vaccines that target the liver stage in malaria-endemic populations.