In areas with stable transmission of Plasmodium falciparum parasites, even partially-protective immunity to malaria is acquired only after years of exposure and several infections. It has long been speculated that malaria parasites are directly able to undermine the establishment and maintenance of immunological memory, and that the often transient antibody responses to this parasite are evidence of such a dysfunction. We propose that long-lived antibody responses may not always be a prerequisite for protection, and that antibody longevity varies in an exposure- and age-dependent manner.
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