Schematic presentation of the concept of immune decoy by the DV. Rupture of a parasitized cell liberates one DV along with 32 merozoites. In nonimmune serum, complement is activated only on the DV, so exclusive uptake of the vesicle follows, leaving merozoites free to invade new cells. ROS generation in response to DV uptake is unable to harm the merozoites, but instead drives the cells into a state of functional exhaustion so that efficient killing of subsequently engulfed bacteria is no longer ensured.