Course Objectives

1. Understand the complex relationships between host and vector that affect transmission and control. 2. Integrate the host and parasite relationships to understand the immune response, nature of the disease and disease manifestations. 3. Interpret epidemiological indices associated with patterns of malaria transmission. 4. Evaluate different approaches to malaria control, either through vector control, chemotherapy and vaccines when they become available. 5. Understand the differences between the various species of Plasmodium affecting humans.

Readings

Textbooks

David Warrell, Herbert Gilles, editors. Essential Malariology. 4th edition. London: Hodder Arnold, 2002. ISBN: 0340740647 This concise text provides an overview of the wide-ranging field of malariology. It includes readable introductory chapters on the basic sciences; practical information on the diagnosis and clinical manifestations of malaria in various patient groups (including children, pregnant women, adults); a comprehensive guide to pharmacology and treatment of malaria, and a review of the current status in malaria vaccine development. Irwin W. Sherman. Molecular Approaches to Malaria. 2nd edition. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing, 2005. ISBN 1555813305 Molecular Approaches to Malaria provides an overview of the rapid and significant developments that have occurred in malaria research, including the 2002 genome sequencing of Plasmodium falciparum and its mosquito vector, Anopheles gambiae. An important resource for molecular biologists, biochemists, cell biologists, chemists, pathologists, parasitologists, entomologists, and immunologists, Molecular Approaches to Malaria is a single reference source that will serve to update teachers, investigators, and public health officials on the status of malaria research. Written by an international group of bench scientists who are leaders in the field, the book opens with a clearly written introduction to Plasmodium molecular biology, followed by several chapters on its genetics and evolution. The remaining five sections examine the intricate host-parasite relationship through comprehensive coverage of invasion and gamete formation; growth and metabolism; immune invasion; protection mechanisms; and the malaria vector.