Modeling the effects of malaria on red blood cell binding at the vascular interface

Abstract

Malaria is one of the largest diseases affecting tropical and subtropical regions, with more than 200 million cases and between 400,000 and 500,000 deaths annually, disproportionately afflicting the young, elderly, or immune compromised (1,2). Infamously spread by infected mosquitoes, the disease is caused by several parasitic species of Plasmodium (P. falciparum, P. malariae, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. knowlesi). Symptoms of the disease can include chills, fever, nausea, anemia, vomiting, and flu-like symptoms, such as body aches and malaise; in extreme cases, it causes seizures, coma, and death.