To phenotypically characterise pDC during early P. falciparum infection we assessed maturation markers; CD86, CD40, CD80, HLA-A,B,C, HLA-DR and CD123 (IL-3Rα) expression on pDC before and at peak-infection for participants infected with either 150 pRBC or 1,800 pRBC. Here, CD40 is linked to infection.