Abstract
RECOVERY from infections caused by intraerythrocytic protozoa is usually followed by a period of resistance to challenge with the homologous parasite1. In some cases this resistance is confined to challenge with the homologous strain, in others it is confined to the same species2 and more rarely extends to related species3,4. It has recently been reported that resistance to challenge can even transcend the generic barrier5. Cox and Milar5 demonstrated that mice which had recovered from infection with the malaria parasite Plasmodium chabaudi resisted challenge with the rodent piroplasm Babesia (Nuttallia) rodhaini but that this protection did not apply to the malaria parasite P. berghei. We have already shown that P. chabaudi protects against P. vinckei, but not against P. berghei3, and that B. microti protects against B. rodhaini4. Independently of Cox and Milar5 we have found that mice which have recovered from infections with Babesia (Nuttallia) microti are resistant to challenge with the virulent malaria parasite P. vinckei. This work both confirms and extends the unexpected discovery made by Cox and Milar5.
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References
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COX, F. Immunity to Malaria after Recovery from Piroplasmosis in Mice. Nature 219, 646 (1968). https://doi.org/10.1038/219646a0
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/219646a0
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