| Seung Hun Lee | 2 Articles |
<sec>
<title>Objectives</title>
<p>The importance of tick-borne diseases is increasing because of climate change, with a lack of long-term studies on tick-borne pathogens in South Korea. To understand the epidemiological characteristics of tick-borne diseases, the monthly distribution of field ticks throughout the year was studied in South Korea between May 2014 and April 2018 in a cross sectional study.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Methods</title>
<p>The presence of various tick-borne pathogens (<italic>Rickettsia</italic> species, <italic>Borrelia</italic> species, <italic>Anaplasma phagocytophilum</italic>) was confirmed by using polymerase chain reaction, to provide information for a prevention strategy against tick-borne pathogenic infections, through increased understanding of the relationship between seasonal variation and risk of infection with <italic>Rickettsia</italic> species. This was performed using logistic regression analysis (SPSS 20, IBM, USA) of the data obtained from the study.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Results</title>
<p>During the study period there were 11,717 ticks collected and 4 species identified. <italic>Haemapysalis longicornis</italic> was the most common species (<italic>n</italic> = 10,904, 93.1%), followed by <italic>Haemapysalis flava</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 656, 5.6%), <italic>Ixodes nipponensis</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 151, 1.3%), and <italic>Amblyomma testudinarium</italic> (<italic>n</italic> = 6, 0.05%) The results of this cross-sectional study showed that <italic>Haemapysalis flava</italic> carried a higher risk of transmission of <italic>Rickettsia</italic> species than other tick species (<italic>p</italic> < 0.05).</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Conclusion</title>
<p>In conclusion, due attention should be paid to preventing tick-borne infections in humans whilst engaged in outdoor activities in Spring and Autumn, particularly in places where there is a high prevalence of ticks.</p></sec>
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
<sec>
<title>Objectives</title>
<p>Pathogenic <italic>Vibrio</italic> species are widely distributed in warm estuarine and coastal environments, and can infect humans through the consumption of raw or mishandled contaminated seafood and seawater. For this reason, the distribution of these bacteria in South Korea was investigated.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Methods</title>
<p>Seawater samples were collected from 145 coastal area points in the aquatic environment in which <italic>Vibrio</italic> species live. Environmental data (i.e., water temperature, salinity, turbidity, and atmospheric temperature) was collected which may help predict the distribution of the species (data not shown). Seawater samples were filtered, and incubated overnight in alkaline peptone water, at 37°C. Using species-specific polymerase chain reaction methods, screening tests were performed for the <italic>hlyA, ctxA, vvhA</italic>, and <italic>tlh</italic> genes. Clones of pathogenic <italic>Vibrio</italic> species were isolated using 3 selective plating media.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Results</title>
<p>In 2017, total seawater isolation rates for <italic>Vibrio vulnificus</italic>, <italic>Vibrio cholerae</italic> (non-pathogenic, non-O1, non-O139 serogroups), and <italic>Vibrio parahaemolyticus</italic> were 15.82%, 13.18%, 65.80%, respectively. However, in 2018 isolation rates for each were 21.81%, 19.40%, and 70.05%, respectively.</p></sec>
<sec>
<title>Conclusion</title>
<p>The isolation rates of pathogenic <italic>Vibrio</italic> species positively correlated with the temperature of seawater and atmosphere, but negatively correlated with salinity and turbidity. From 2017 to 2018, the most frequent seawater-isolated <italic>Vibrio</italic> species were <italic>V. parahaemolyticus</italic> (68.10 %), <italic>V. vulnificus</italic> (16.54%), and non-toxigenic <italic>V. cholerae</italic> (19.58%). Comprehensive monitoring, prevention, and control efforts are needed to protect the public from pathogenic <italic>Vibrio</italic> species.</p></sec>
Citations
Citations to this article as recorded by
|
|
