Malaria in the Immune System

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Malaria in the Immune System

• By Lindsay

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What is it?

• Malaria is a disease that is transferred usually
  by mosquito
• The mosquito passes on parasites that it contains
  in its own system. The parasites are passed into
  the blood stream.

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Symptoms
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Protection

• Immune protection against malaria requires
  continued exposure
• People who get effected by malaria in a risk
  zone and then leave, are more apt to get it when
  they return to a risk zone
• Immune system needs the parasites to be in the
  body for an amount of time so that they can
  produce antibodies and combating cells to fight
  of the disease
• Risk Zones include Africa, Central American,
  Mexico, South America and Southern Asia

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Effects on the Immune System

• Immune system defenses include antibodies,
  lymphocytes, monocytes, macrophages, natural kill
  (NK) cells and neutrophils

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Antibodies

• neutralize the parasites
• Stunt parasite development
• prevent them from entering target cells
• help macrophages to engulf the parasites and
  infected cells.

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NK Cells and Neutrophils

• First line of defense against malaria
• Macrophages attack the malaria infected cells,
  along with infected RBC, and engulf them
• Macrophages eventually clear parasites from blood
  stream

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Cellular Immunity

• Considered very helpful in the prevention of
  malaria
• Cytokines are also helpful to prevent malaria
• This chemical is secreted by lymphocytes
• They enhance the process of cellular immunity

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Malaria in the Liver

• causes the liver to become enlarged
• Becomes firm and tender
• Parasites travel to the liver first
• This is where they change to a new form that can
  effect red blood cells and cause them to burst
  (decreases RBC count /)
• Parasite cells accumulate calcium ions that
  disguise the infected cell so the immune system
  doesnt see the infection right off

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• Red Blood cell
• bursting after
• Malaria
• infection

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Problems

• Malaria parasites presents a different group of
  targets (antigens) to the immune system
• Malaria parasites mutate rapidly generating
  different variant
• This ability to generate different forms and a
  diversity within targets of the host's immune
  system help the parasites to bypass malarial
  immunity.
• Parasite diversity makes it difficult to create a
  vaccine for malaria because the parasites changes
  so one vaccine might not effect diverse malarial
  parasites

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Extra Facts

• Malaria kills more than 3,000 children under the
  age of five per year
• More than 1.5 million/year
• Infection rate of approx. 400 to 500 million/year