Can a survivor transmit Malaria to others after she or he has fully recovered?
Yes, as an asymptomatic carrier of a malaria infection. Examples are people who have built up immunity to falciparum malaria (see above), or people who, after having recovered from the primary attack of P.vivax or P.ovale infections, subsequently suffer a relapse. Antimalarial drugs such as chloroquine and mefloquine that are given to cure malaria infections do not eliminate mature Plasmodium falciparum gametocytes from the bloodstream. A person who has been successfully treated with antimalarial drugs may thus be healthy but infective for on average 2 months until the gametocytes die off naturally, or until another drug such as primaquine is given that does eliminate the gametocytes.
