12 Questions
What is the most virulent species of Plasmodium?
Plasmodium falciparum
Which organism serves as the vector for Plasmodium in transmitting malaria to humans?
Anopheles mosquito
What is the stage of Plasmodium that enters the bloodstream when an infected female mosquito takes a blood meal?
Sporozoites
What is the 45-kDa protein that covers sporozoites and mediates their adhesion to hepatocytes?
Circumsporozoite (CS) antigen
Where do the parasites differentiate into merozoites after entering the hepatocytes?
Liver
What initiates the major symptoms and pathology of malaria?
Merozoites infecting red blood cells
Which stage in the life cycle of Plasmodium is responsible for initiating the cycle again by differentiating into sporozoites within the mosquito’s salivary gland?
Zygote
Which symptom of malaria is a result of merozoites blocking capillaries in the body?
Renal failure
In regions where malaria is endemic, which age group is noted to have the weakest immune response against Plasmodium infection?
Children younger than 14 years old
What is a factor contributing to the low levels of immune response to Plasmodium in individuals living in endemic regions?
Constant surface molecule changes by Plasmodium
Which stage of Plasmodium's life cycle circulates in the blood for a very short time before infecting hepatocytes, making immune activation unlikely?
Sporozoite
What hypothesis links some malaria symptoms to the excessive production of cytokines?
Treatment with recombinant TNF-α in cancer patients
Explore the impact of malaria as the number-one parasitic cause of death worldwide, affecting half of the global population. Learn about the causative agent Plasmodium species, particularly P.falciparum, and the challenges posed by drug resistance in treating malaria.
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