Abstract
Intraerythrocytic malaria parasites are assumed to have predominantly intravascular tropism, with the spleen considered to be principally a site for parasite destruction, as is evident after antimalarial treatment. We hypothesized a more complex role for the spleen in human malaria and explored the possibility that viable, plasmodium-infected red cells accumulate in this organ.
In this report, patients living in a malaria-endemic area underwent trauma-related splenectomy. In these asymptomatic patients who were naturally infected with Plasmodium falciparum or P. vivax, the predominant biomass of intact, infected red cells was in the spleen.