Cerebral malaria is the most severe neurological complication of Plasmodium falciparum infection and remains a major cause of mortality in endemic regions despite sustained malaria control efforts. Traditional transmission studies primarily focus on infection incidence and often overlook the mechanisms governing progression to severe disease. In this paper, we develop a severity-aware, human-centric transmission framework for cerebral malaria that explicitly links population-level transmission with within-host disease progression and health-system responsiveness. Using a minimally mathematical compartmental formulation, we identify a small set of critical parameters-particularly vector-human contact intensity, treatment delay, recovery rates, and host immunity heterogeneity that jointly determine transmission persistence, progression to cerebral malaria, and eradication feasibility. We show that parameters governing early diagnosis and rapid treatment are as influential as classical transmission parameters in suppressing both severe disease burden and onward transmission. To operationalize this parameter-sensitive framework, we integrate artificial intelligence (AI) as a complementary analytical layer. AI-based methods are shown to enhance parameter estimation, spatiotemporal risk forecasting, early warning for severe disease progression, and adaptive intervention planning. By explicitly mapping epidemiological parameters to AI-assisted prevention and control strategies, the study demonstrates how data-driven intelligence can transform static transmission models into adaptive decision-support systems. The findings underscore that effective control of cerebral malaria requires coordinated manipulation of transmission, progression, and health-system parameters, supported by AI-enabled surveillance and intervention. This integrated approach provides a realistic and scalable pathway toward minimizing transmission, reducing mortality, and advancing toward sustainable eradication of cerebral malaria.
Mishra et al. (Sat,) studied this question.