Korean J Parasitol.  2018 Aug;56(4):335-339. 10.3347/kjp.2018.56.4.335.

Survey on Intestinal Helminthic Infection Status of Students in Two Counties, Hadong-gun and Goseong-gun, Korea

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Biotechnology, College of Biomedical and Health Science, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, Korea.
  • 2Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 22212, Korea. tongsookim@inha.ac.kr
  • 3Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University School of Medicine, Jinju 52727, Korea.
  • 4BK21 Plus Team for Anti-aging Biotechnology and Industry, Department of Convergence Medical Science, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52727, Korea.
  • 5Department of Medical Environmental Biology and Research Center for Biomolecules and Biosystems, Chung-Ang University College of Medicine, Seoul 06974, Korea.
  • 6Korea Association of Health Promotion, Seoul 07653, Korea.

Abstract

This study was conducted to investigate the prevalence of intestinal parasites among students from Goseong-gun, Gangwon-do and Hadong-gun, Gyeongsangnam-do as typical low and high endemic counties. From May to July 2017, a total of 2,033 fecal samples were collected at 27 elementary, 10 junior high, and 8 high schools from 2 counties and examined by the Kato-Katz technique for egg-positive surveys (Collection rate: 37.02% [2,033/5,492]). Of the participants examined, 13 (0.64%) were found to harbor eggs of 3 parasitic species, Trichuris trichiura, Clonorchis sinensis and Metagonimus yokogawai. Based on the regional distribution, the egg-positive rate in Goseong-gun was 0% (0/550) and that in Hadong-gun was 0.88% (13/1,483). The positive rates for C. sinensis, M. yokogawai, and T. trichiura in Hadong-gun were 0.20% (3/1,483), 0.61% (9/1,483), and 0.07% (1/1,483), respectively. The present survey showed that the prevalence of parasitic infection among students is currently very low even in remote, previously endemic areas, and the present status of parasitic diseases can be summarized as some transmission of fish/food-borne trematodes. Thus, it is necessary to carefully, continuously monitor the trematode infection status, particularly of C. sinensis and M. yokogawai.

Keyword

Intestinal helminthic; student; egg-positive; survey; endemic; non-endemic

MeSH Terms

Clonorchis sinensis
Eggs
Gangwon-do
Gyeongsangnam-do
Helminths*
Heterophyidae
Humans
Korea*
Ovum
Parasites
Parasitic Diseases
Prevalence
Trematode Infections
Trichuris
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