In this phase the red blood cells become infected by the micromerozoites. While in the red blood cells the micromerozoites pass through several stages of develop until they finally develop into merozoites. This asexual parasitic form is present at a variable time from when the human was inoculated with the sporozoite. In P.vivax this occurs at about 12 days, in P. falciparum about 9 days.
The red blood cells that are invaded is dependent on which form of Plasmodium the patient has been inoculated with. P. falciparum invades all red blood cells. P. vivax and P. ovale preferentially invade young red blood cells and reticulocytes. P. malariae preferentially invades senescent red blood cells.
The merozoites then go through a cycle of where they pass through the various stages of development to produce more merozoites. As each cycle terminates the red cells are ruptured and the merozoite are released into the circulation. The merozoites then may invade more red blood cells and the cycle continues again. The cycle occurs approximately every 48 hours in P. falciparum infection, every 48-72 hours in P. vivax and P. ovale, and every 72 hours in P. malariae infection.
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