ABSTRACT
Malaria infections produce the most severe disease in those with the least immunity. Ninety per cent of the world’s malaria is transmitted in sub-Saharan Africa, and immunity is acquired over time, requiring repeated exposure to the bites of infective Anopheles mosquitoes. As a result, young African children are the group at highest risk of developing severe disease. Accurate statistics are scarce, but a current estimate of the annual paediatric death toll exacted by malaria in Africa is 1 million.
