Malaria: Driver of Red Blood Cell and Hemoglobin Mutations

Malaria, spread by mosquitoes, remains one of the deadliest infectious diseases today. It has so threatened human health through time that it has driven the evolution of red cell and hemoglobin mutations to make blood less hospitable to the protozoan organisms parasitizing red cells, all because our immunologic defenses alone are inadequate to reach the parasites inside red cells where they feed on hemoglobin. The cause of malaria, its clinical complications, history of discovery, prevention, and treatments including the current status of monoclonal antibodies and immunizations are discussed.