Parasitemia Monitoring in Malaria-Infected Mice

Control and immunized mice were challenged 4 weeks after the last CII with 1 × 10⁵P. chabaudi AS or P. yoelii YM for homologous or heterologous experiments. Age-matched naive mice were challenged alongside the experimental groups to account for residual drug. Parasitemia was monitored every alternate day by the use of Giemsa-stained blood films, and the hemoglobin level was measured every 4 days (HemoCue 201⁺ analyzer; Hemocue, Angelholm, Sweden). Percent parasitemia was calculated as the number of infected RBCs divided by total RBC count (a minimum of 300 total RBCs were counted) multiplied by 100. To assess health, mice received clinical scores every 2 days (76 (link)). Mice that showed signs of severe disease were euthanized using CO₂ gas. Observer bias was reduced through experimental blinding, except for experiments requiring immune cell depletion.