Plasmodium vivax
is the most widely distributed human malarial parasite,
there being around 80-90 million cases a year. In
some parts of the world, including Latin America
and Asia, this is the most prevalent species among
the four human malarial parasites. P. vivax
cannot be continuously culture in vitro although
some progress has been made on this area. Parasites
should therefore be obtained from patients or infected
monkeys. Although this limitation has somewhat hindered
research of this parasite species, it has also resulted
in our obtaining of valuable information from natural
parasite populations.
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