| Tong-Soo Kim | 2 Articles |
<sec><title>Objectives</title><p>Korea was an endemic area for lymphatic filariasis (LF), caused by the nematode parasite <italic>Brugia malayi</italic>, until the 1970s. The World Health Organization recognized Korea as LF-free in June 2008. However, it is necessary to confirm that patients that have had LF in the past still test negative, to prevent the re-emergence of LF in Korea.</p></sec><sec><title>Methods</title><p>We followed up a total of 83 patients who had been diagnosed with LF between 2002 and 2010 in endemic LF areas.</p></sec><sec><title>Results</title><p>Fifty-two of the 83 subjects were negative for LF, whereas 31 subjects had re-located to a different city or province, were dead, or were unaccounted for. Most subjects with negative test results still exhibited edema in the legs or the arms, and some complained of redness and swelling in the legs or ankle joints. However, we found that these symptoms were due to diseases other than LF.</p></sec><sec><title>Conclusion</title><p>In this follow-up study, we did not find any evidence indicating the potential re-emergence of LF in Korea.</p></sec>
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Objectives
The prevalence of <i>Clonorchis sinensis</i> infection was investigated among residents of the five major river basins, that is, Hangang, Nakdonggang, Seomjingang, Yeongsangang, and Geumgang River basins in Korea. Methods From January to December 2007, a total of 31,268 stool samples were collected from 29 localities and examined by the formalin-ether sedimentation technique. Results Intestinal parasite eggs and/or protozoan cysts were detected from 2957 (9.5%) inhabitants. Number of residents harbouring helminth eggs in the faeces was 2542 (8.1%) for <i>C. sinensis</i>, 255 (0.8%) for <i>Heterophyes</i> spp., 36 (0.1%) for <i>Echinostoma</i> spp., 30 (0.1%) for <i>Trichuris trichiura</i>, 8 (0.03%) for <i>Ascaris lumbricoides</i>, 7 (0.02%) for <i>Gymnophalloide seoi</i>, and 50 (0.02%) for <i>Trichostrongylus orientalis</i>. Number of residents harbouring protozoan cysts in the faeces was 133 (1.3%) for <i>Entamoeba</i> spp. and 50 (0.2%) for <i>Giardia lamblia.</i> The positive rates of <i>C. sinensis</i> in Nakdonggang, Seomjingang, Yeongsangang, Geumgang, and Hangang River basins were 12.2%, 9.5%, 3.3%, 3.0%, and 1.0%, respectively. The egg positive rate of <i>C. sinensis</i> was higher in male (10.6%) than in female (6.1%), and the age group of 50s had the highest positive rate (10.4%). Conclusion The result of this study revealed little decrease in positive rate of <i>C. sinensis</i> compared with the result of southern endemic areas of Korea in 2006. Citations
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