Childhood malaria Understanding how changes in community parasite prevalence alter the rate and age distribution of severe malaria is essential for optimizing control efforts. Paton et al . assessed the incidence of pediatric severe malaria admissions from 13 hospitals in East Africa from 2006 to 2020 (see the Perspective by Taylor and Slutsker). Each 25% increase in community parasite prevalence shifted hospital admissions toward younger children. Low rates of lifetime infections appeared to confer some immunity to severe malaria in very young children. Children under the age of 5 years thus need to remain a focus of disease prevention for malaria control. —CA