Plasmodium falciparum is the agent of severe,
potentially fatal malaria, causing an estimated
700,000 to 2.7 million deaths annually. Most of these
deaths are among young children living in Africa.
Plasmodium vivax and P. ovale can lay dormant in
the liver. Called hypnozoites at this stage, these
parasites can reactivate, or relapse, producing
symptoms from malaria several months or years after
the bite from an infected mosquito.
Plasmodium malariae produces chronic infection,
and if left untreated, the infection can persist without
symptoms in the human host for years, even a
lifetime.