Studies on the current epidemiological situation of brugian filariasis in endemic areas of Korea

Abstract

An epidemiological study on brugian filariasis was carried out in endemic areas including Cheju Island in Korea, with a brief review of literatures.The results showed that the incidence among residents has remarkably decreased in Cheju Island, which was the main endemic area. Reviewing available informations on the prevalence of filariasis reported in recent years and also judging from the present socio-economic conditions which enable people to practice personal protection against mosquitos, it can be said with confidence that filariasis has almost disappeared from Cheju Island and inland areas. The disease is considered to remain at a low level of endemicity in Hugsan Islands. Certainly mass diethylcarbamazine (DEC) treatment carried out in Cheju Island in the 1960s and 1970s and remarkable economic growth followed by improved living standard and altered life-style of inhabitants could all have combined effects on the disappearance of this mosquito-borne diseae in this island. If the present trends go on, the possibility of resurgence of filariasis in Cheju Island is hardly postulated.

Re-emerging Plasmodium vivax malaria in the Republic of Korea

“…Old documents on malaria Malaria, which is called "Hak-chil" in Korean, is believed to be endemic for many centuries in Korea (Paik et al, 1988). There was a first brief note on the occurrence of malaria in 1152 (King Eui-Jong, Koryo Dynasty) and another in 1278 (King ChoongYul, Koryo Dynasty) (Chu, 1986).…”

“…However, it is generally accepted that the only indigenous species which had prevailed in the past and re-emerged recently is P. vivax (Chun and Kim, 1959;Paik et al, 1988;Chai, 1997).…”

Successful Control of Lymphatic Filariasis in the Republic of Korea

“…The prevalence of filariasis decreased to a significantly low level of 0.5% following mass and selective treatments conducted since 1968 [28]. A survey done in 1988 in 4 villages of Jeju-do that were formerly well known as endemic areas revealed that microfilaremia among the inhabitants was 0.3% out of a total of 357 persons [29]. On the other hand, in the eastern inland area, Gyeongsangbuk-do, the moderate endemicity of lymphatic filariasis during the early 1970s was considered to be almost eliminated in the 1980s with selective treatments.…”

“…An epidemiological survey performed in 1988 on 4 villages of Jeju-do that were formerly well-known endemic areas has observed that microfilaremia among the inhabitants was 0.3% out of a total of 357 persons [29]. On the other hand, Gyeongsangbuk-do, the moderately endemic area of B. malayi filariasis during the early 1970s was found to be completely controlled in the 1980s.…”

“…During the 1970s, the infection rate ranged between 3.4 and 7.8% [26,47]. However, the infection rate dropped to approximately 1% during the 1980s, when a total of 5,554 residents (ranged between 0.6 and 1.5%) were examined [16,19,24,27,29,[31][32][33][34][35]41,[44][45][46] (Table 2). Most recently, Cheun et al [48] collected blood specimens from a total of 1,801 dwellers in 9 different villages in these areas and examined the presence of microfilariae in their blood, but found no positive case in 2005.…”