Imported Parasitic Diseases in Korea

Myoung-Hee Ahn

doi:10.3947/ic.2010.42.5.271

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Ahn: Imported Parasitic Diseases in Korea

Review Article

Infection & Chemotherapy

Infection & Chemotherapy 2010; 42(5): 271-279.

Published online: 31 October 2010

DOI: https://doi.org/10.3947/ic.2010.42.5.271

Imported Parasitic Diseases in Korea

Myoung-Hee Ahn

Department of Environmental Biology & Medical Parasitology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea.

Correspondence to Myoung-Hee Ahn, M.D., Ph.D. Department of Environmental Biology & Medical Parasitology, Hanyang University College of Medicine, 17 Haengdang-dong, Seongdong-gu, Seoul 133-792, Korea. Tel: +82-2-2220-0682, Fax: +82-2-2281-6519, mhahn@hanyang.ac.kr

Received 18 October 2010 Accepted 18 October 2010

(open-access):

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc/3.0) which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Abstract

International migration of people has risen exponentially during the past two decades. Many people travel abroad for business purposes, sightseeing, volunteer activities, immigration, education, missonary work, etc., and are exposed to vector-borne and food or water-borne parasitic diseases, especially when they are traveling to the tropical and sub-tropical areas. Recently, imported parasitic diseases have also increased in Korea due to frequent traveling by the local residents or entry of foreign workers to the country. According to the statistics from 1970 to 2008, malaria (727 cases) was the most frequently imported parasitic disease in Korea followed by gnathostomiasis (42 cases) and hydatidosis (31 cases). From 1970 to 2010, cases of ancylostomiasis (1 case), angiostrongylosis (15 cases), babesiosis (8 cases), cutaneous larva migrans (8 cases), cutaneous myiasis (2 cases), cyclosporiasis (1 case), heterophyiasis (2 cases), leishmaniasis (28 cases), loiasis (3 cases), pentastomiasis (1 case), schistosomiasis (13 cases), and syngamosis (1 case) have also been reported. Travelers to Sub-Saharan Africa, Southeast Asia, and Central and South America should be on alert against malaria and other tropical diseases. National surveillance for imported diseases started in 2001 by Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC). This article reviews imported parasitic diseases in Korea with review of literature.

Keywords: Imported parasite, Travel, Malaria, Korea

Figures and Tables

Table 1

Changing Patterns of Imported Parasites in Korea

Table 2

Imported Malaria in Korea from 1994 to 2008

Data from Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC)

Table 3

Classification of Imported Malaria species in Korea from 2002 to 2008

Data from Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (KCDC)

Table 4

Summary of Human Hydatid Diseases Reported in Korea from 1983 to 2010

^aForeign worker in Korea

Data of 25-28: cited from references 7

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