A nationwide survey on the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections in the Republic of Korea, 2004.
National surveys on the prevalence of intestinal parasitic infections have been carried out every 5-7 years since 1971 in the Republic of Korea in order to establish control measures. The present nationwide survey was conducted from June to December 2004. The 10% population sampling data of Population and Housing Census by the Korean government in 2000 was used as the survey population. One sample was selected randomly from each of the 22,858 registered subjects, and a total of 20,541 people were ultimately included in this survey. Fecal examinations were performed by the cellophane thick smear and saturated brine flotation techniques. Pinworm infection was examined by cello-tape anal swab method. This survey also included a questionnaire study for a socioeconomic analysis. The total helminth egg positive rate was 3.7%, and the estimated total positive number among nationwide people was 1,780,000. The rates in urban and rural areas were 3.1% and 6.8%, respectively. As the total egg positive rate in the 6th survey in 1997 was 2.4%, the present survey showed that there was a considerable degree of increase in the prevalence rate of intestinal parasitic infections over the 7-year period following the 6th survey. The largest increases occurred in the egg positive rates of Clonorchis sinensis and heterophyids including Metagonimus yokogawai.
Kim
Tong-Soo
TS
Department of Malaria and Parasitic Diseases, National Institute of Health, Seoul, Korea.
Cho
Shin-Hyeong
SH
Huh
Sun
S
Kong
Yoon
Y
Sohn
Woon-Mok
WM
Hwang
Seung-Sik
SS
Chai
Jong-Yil
JY
Lee
Soon-Hyung
SH
Park
Yun-Kyu
YK
Oh
Dae-Kyu
DK
Lee
Jong-Koo
JK
D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D000818:Animals; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D003625:Data Collection; D005243:Feces / Q000469:parasitology; D005260:Female; D006373:Helminthiasis / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000469:parasitology; D006376:Helminths / Q000302:isolation & purification*; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007411:Intestinal Diseases, Parasitic / Q000453:epidemiology*; D007723:Korea / Q000453:epidemiology; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D010270:Parasite Egg Count; D015995:Prevalence; D012424:Rural Population; D014505:Urban Population; D055815:Young Adult