Are there people more susceptible to malaria?

Yes: A recently published study indicated that people who were born in malaria endemic areas but moved out of those eventually and now are revisiting them again, are, in fact, at the highest risk for acquiring malaria. People with sickle cell anemia or sickle cell trait have the lowest susceptibility on the other hand.

Malaria: It's more of a location susceptibility than a person susceptibility. Certain parts of the world have high malaria risk. An excellent website for up to date info is the cdc website, cdc.Gov. When people are in those high risk locations, risk of malaria can be reduced by taking prophylactic medication, wearing long sleeves and pants and socks, and avoiding dawn and dusk outdoors.