A stochastic model of immune-modulated malaria infection and disease in children.

We develop a simple three-state stochastic description of individual malaria infections that relates dynamics of disease and immune status to age and previous exposure, under different intensities of transmission. We apply the resulting individual-based community models to examine the effects of drug treatment and vaccination on the frequency and severity of disease in ensembles of children. The several broad qualitative similarities between our results and field observations include potential rebound effects following intervals of drug treatment.