Status of intestinal helminthic infections of borderline residents in North Korea.
The present authors investigated intestinal parasitic infections among North Korean residents and refugees in China in 2003. The Kato-Katz method was applied to 236 residents and soldiers in a town on the North Korea-China border and to 46 people at a refugee camp in China. Only eggs of Ascaris and Trichuris were detected, with egg positive rates of 41.1% and 37.6%, respectively. The total egg positive rate was 55.0% and most of those who were egg positive were only lightly infected. Women of 61.2% and men of 53.1% were egg positive. The refugees from rural areas showed higher egg positive rates than those from urban areas. The present investigation confirmed high prevalence of soil-transmitted intestinal helminths in rural borderline areas of North Korea.
Li
Shunyu
S
Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, and Institute of Endemic Diseases, Seoul National University College of Medicine, Seoul, Korea. hst@snu.ac.kr
Shen
Chenghua
C
Choi
Min-Ho
MH
Bae
Young Mee
YM
Yoon
Hiwon
H
Hong
Sung-Tae
ST
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000818:Animals; D001196:Ascariasis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D001200:Ascaris / Q000254:growth & development*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D014257:Trichuriasis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D014258:Trichuris / Q000254:growth & development*