The occurrence of malarial parasites was certainly lower in AS heterozygotes (27.9%) and that parasite concentration was also lesser. The findings reveal that AS heterozygotes had a lower frequency and seriousness of malarial infection. AS heterozygotes exhibits lowest mortality rate and does not show harmful sickling, as the heterozygotes are partly resistant to the infection by the malaria parasite.
The individuals with heterozygous state have a different advantage. The individuals with gentle sickle feature possess a resistance to malarial infection as the pathogen that produces the disease uses part of life cycle in the red blood cells and activate an irregular drop in oxygen levels in the cell. In carriers this drop is enough to activate the full sickle cell reaction that leads to quick removal of existing infected cells from the circulation and intensely limiting the infection’s development. Hence, the AS heterozygote individuals have a great immunity to infection and have a better possibility of surviving occurrence.