Fig. 1

Compendium of the study population. The study enrolled malaria patients seeking for healthcare at the Ambulatory of the Fundação de Medicina Tropical Dr. Heitor Vieira Dourado (FMT-HVD), Manaus, Amazonas State, Brazil. The patient selection was performed by convenience. From the 68 patients participating in the initial inquiry, fifty-five were selected and included in the study, as patients fulfilled the inclusion criteria (parasitaemia was above 500 parasites/mm³). The selected patients were grouped as: primary malaria (n = 36) and recurrent malaria (n = 19) as described in “Methods” section. Twenty healthy individuals living in the same endemic area and with no history of malaria were invited to participate as endemic controls