Status of Plasmodium Vivax Malaria in the Republic of Korea During 2001–2003

Abstract

The Republic of Korea experienced a re-emergence of Plasmodium vivax malaria in 1993. The incidence of this disease increased rapidly through 2000 with its geographic distribution expanding from the vicinity near the Demilitarized Zone to the adjacent outlying areas. However, the number of cases of P. vivax malaria since that time period has decreased. A total of 2,538 cases occurred in 2001, and this decreased to 1,761 cases and 1,164 cases in the two subsequent years. A total of 5,463 cases of P. vivax malaria were reported from 2001 through 2003; 25.26% (1,380) were reported among Republic of Korea military personnel, 27.48% (1,501) were among veterans who had been discharged from the military within two years, and 47.26% (2,582) were among the civilian population. Mosquito control activities by the North Korean and South Korean governments, chemoprophylaxis of Republic of Korea Army personnel, and the low level of Anopheles mosquitoes in 2001 may have been factors responsible for the decreasing number of malaria cases. However, local transmission might have taken place in urban regions of the malaria-risk areas that are within 30 km south of the Demilitarized Zone. Extensive intervention and continued surveillance are warranted to prevent the epidemic from re-expanding and to eliminate this disease in the Republic of Korea.

Changing Vivax Malaria Transmission Features in the Republic of Korea during 2013-2014

“…Chemoprophylaxis started with approximately 16,000 military personnel in 1997, and has expanded to more than 200,000 army soldiers who are currently serving in areas with high risk for malaria [21]. Owing to this effort, the ratio of civilian to soldier cases has changed completely compared with that observed early in the reemergence of malaria in Korea (Figure 3) [13]. This implies a trend of shifting to increasingly stable local transmission within these areas from malaria that was predominantly acquired in the DMZ (from across the border from North Korea).…”

“…For army soldiers, cases should be reported to the Office of the Surgeon General, Army Headquarters, and the Ministry of Health and Welfare [13]. These reports should have the patient's name, date of onset of illness, date of diagnosis, age, sex, address, and the estimated areas where the infection occurred.…”

“…However, such cases in army soldiers are excluded from the civilian/ veteran cases by the DIDS during the verification process [14,15].…”

Modeling the Spatio-Temporal Distribution of the Anopheles Mosquito based on Life History and Surface Water Conditions~!2009-12-21~!2010-02-12~!2010-04-13~!

“…Anopheles mosquito observation sites and three transects for analysis. Small closed circles indicate observation sites of the Anopheles species reported in published data (Dev 1996, Chen et al 2002, Overgaard et al 2002, Singh et al 2004, Yeom et al 2005, Chen et al 2006, Rueda et al 2006. Open circles are representative observation sites ( Fig.…”

“…3). Observation data for the entire year were available only for Yunnan Province in China (Ono 1992), Ishigaki Island in Japan (Toma et al 2002), Kyonggi-do in South Korea (Lee et al 2002), Cheolwon and Yeoncheon Counties in South Korea (Yeom et al 2005), Chiang Mai in Thailand (Overgaard et al 2002), Kheda District in India (Konradsen et al 1998), and Assam in India (Dev 1996).…”