Malarial antibodies measured by the indirect hemagglutination test in West African children.

The indirect hemagglutination test with Plasmodium falciparum antigen was used to measure malarial antibodies in filter paper blood specimens from 527 West African children. A slight decline in antibodies was noted in 6- to 8-month-old children wh o had no malaria parasites in their blood smears. Children older than 10 months had similar antibody levels regardless of the presence or absence of demonstrated parasites in blood smears.