Infecting dose and severity of malaria: a literature review of induced malaria

Abstract

The influence of infecting dose on severity of malaria is unknown. The medical literature contains descriptions and analyses of thousands of people, volunteers and neurosyphilis patients, in whom malaria was induced artificially. In some studies it is possible to relate measures of dose to outcome. In this paper a systematic review of this literature is presented. Dose was inversely related to prepatent and incubation period, as expected. A few studies suggested a relation between dose and severity of disease but others did not. Difficulties in interpreting the studies are emphasized, and the findings are compared with those in experimental animals.