malaria immunity in individuals previously resident in a malarious area
Last reviewed 01/2018
- people who live and remain in malarious areas develop immunity against
malaria after repeated infections. However this immunity is not life-long
- if
a person migrates from a malaria endemic area to a non-malarious area it is not
possible to give a precise time when such immunity is lost
- in some instances immunity has been observed to have been lost after 6 months in a non-malarious area and one would expect that immunity would have practically been lost by 2 years (1)
- in light of this, the advice is for malaria chemoprophylaxis and mosquito bit prevention to be used by all immigrants visiting their home country (malarious area), irrespective of the time period they have been away from their home country
- if
a person migrates from a malaria endemic area to a non-malarious area it is not
possible to give a precise time when such immunity is lost
Reference:
- Pulse 2005;65(34): 50.