A Comparative Study of the Trends of Imported Dengue Cases in Korea and Japan 2011 - 2015

Abstract

BackgroundDengue is a mosquito-borne febrile disease that represents a major public health problem in tropical and subtropical areas. Even though Korea and Japan are not the regions where dengue is epidemic, there have been many imported cases in both countries, and in increasing numbers. A better understanding of the characteristics of the prevalence of dengue and the recent trends in these neighboring countries may provide information to promote improvement and control strategies for both. The present study investigated the epidemiological status of imported dengue cases in Korea and Japan between 2011 and 2015, and compared their characteristics.MethodsWe analyzed the annual transition of prevalence, geographic origin of dengue infection, and seasonal distribution of occurrence. The raw data on dengue cases in Korea were obtained from the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention infectious diseases surveillance website and Korean Statistical Information Service website. Data on dengue cases in Japan were obtained from the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Japan’s Infectious Disease Surveillance Center website.ResultsThere were 893 reported cases in Korea and 1,054 in Japan between 2011 and 2015. Cumulative incidence per 100,000 overseas travelers from Japan did not substantially differ from that for Korea (1.22 vs. 1.16, respectively), despite Japan’s population being roughly 2.5 times larger. These results suggest Koreans engage in overseas travel more than Japanese. For Korea and Japan, Southeast Asia was the region accounting for the most cases of infection (89.4% vs. 75.4%, respectively). Notably, the Philippines and Indonesia were, respectively, the leading origin countries for Korean (38.1%) and Japanese (23.3%) cases. Seasonal distribution shows August and September were the months in which the largest number of cases occurred in Korea and Japan, respectively. These differences evidently derive from characteristics of travel destinations and timing of holidays.ConclusionBased on the recent increasing trend in imported dengue cases in both countries, a more rigorous information system that can effectively provide warning of dengue risk and means of prevention for travelers headed to at-risk areas is urgently needed in both countries.

Dengue fever is an emerging public health concern in the city of Multan, Pakistan: its seroprevalence and associated risk factors

“…Over 90% of all confirmed dengue cases were detected between September and November, indicating a significant relationship between dengue fever and environmental factors like rain, temperature and relative humidity. These findings are consistent with those reported from other endemic countries like India China , Brazil and Nepal ; the same trends have been reported for imported cases of dengue in Korea and Japan .…”

The threat of climate change to non-dengue-endemic countries: increasing risk of dengue transmission potential using climate and non-climate datasets

“…Considering that autochthonous cases had been rarely reported for the past 70 years in Japan [4, 5], the dengue outbreak which resulted in a number of domestically-infected patients in 2014 was surprising. According to the Ministry of Health in Japan [24], a total of 161 autochthonous cases were confirmed in 2014.…”

“…Infection with one serotype provides life-long immunity to that specific serotype but does not confer prolonged protection against the other three serotypes [1, 2]. While clinical presentations usually exhibit mild symptoms, a potential lethal complication called severe dengue can also occur and is the main cause of hospitalization and death [3, 4].…”

“…carried in by international travelers), a part of the reasons why dengue infections had not been a major public-health concern in the two countries previously was because meteorological conditions were still unfavorable to the prolonged vector survival to trigger extensive vector-to-human and human-to-vector transmission. However, an unexpected dengue outbreak occurred in Japan during the summer of 2014, and 160 autochthonous (domestic) cases of dengue were reported [4, 5]. Although dengue infections had been continuously reported in Japan, an autochthonous dengue fever had not been identified for 70 years before this outbreak [5].…”

Systems Biology-Based Platforms to Accelerate Research of Emerging Infectious Diseases

“…Even though South Korea is not a region where dengue is epidemic, there have been many imported DENV infection cases in South Korea, and their number is increasing due to increased traveling to Southeast Asia. 53 54 …”