Malaria Tricks the Immune System, Research Shows
Australian scientists say they've figured out a reason why malaria is among the world's most deadly infectious conditions. The malaria parasite uses a genetic "cloaking device" to hide itself from the human immune system, they say.
The Plasmodium falciparum organism intermittently switches off certain genes so that the immune system can't figure out how to identify and destroy the parasite, according to an account from the Times of London.
The finding could lead to development of new drugs that "unmask" the parasite and make it vulnerable to the body's own healing power, according to scientists at the Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research in Melbourne.
An estimated 3 million people worldwide die from malaria every year and as many as 300 million are stricken. Left untreated, the parasite can cause kidney and liver failure, coma, and death.
Results of the Australian research are published in the journal Cell.
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