Immune cell type controls onset and course of severe malaria

Scientists have determined that a subset of immune cells may cause malaria patients to contract the severe form of the disease, suffering worse symptoms. Led by Monash University immunologist Professor Magdalena Plebanski, the international team found that patients with the severe form of malaria have a specific type of cell in their body that people with uncomplicated disease do not. This type of cell, described in an article published April 24 in the open access journal PLoS Pathogens, turns off the immune system and can allow the parasite to grow uncontrollably.

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