TNF and parasitic infectious disease: The ability of P. vivax to induce fever at lower levels of parasitemia than P. falciparum is well described [22,23] and is consistent with a greater host inflammatory response during infections with P. vivax, as evidenced by higher plasma concentration of fever-inducing cytokines, such as TNF, in vivax malaria compared to P. falciparum infections with similar parasitaemia [24,25].