Immune evasion by malaria parasites: a challenge for vaccine development

Malaria is a deadly infectious disease that affects one to two billion people and kills up to one million children yearly. Despite decades of intensive research, we are still lacking an effective vaccine against malaria. Our efforts are being challenged by the complexity of Plasmodium's life cycle, its ability to parasitize and hide within the host cells, and its masterful ability to avoid clearance by the innate and adaptive host immune responses. In this article we will review the main mechanisms of immune evasion used by malaria parasites and discuss the implications for malaria vaccine development.