Parasites, Hosts and Diseases

The Korea Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine (대한기생충학·열대의학회)
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Infection Status of Endoparasites in Foreigner Workers Living in Cheonan City, Chungnam Province, Korea

  • Jung, Suk-Yul (Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, Namseoul University) ;
  • Ahn, Mi-Jung (Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, Namseoul University) ;
  • Oh, Joo-Yeon (Department of Biomedical Laboratory Science, Namseoul University) ;
  • Nam, Hae-Seon (Department of Clinical Parasitology, School of Medicine, Soonchunhyang University) ;
  • Hong, Sung-Tae (Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Seoul National University College of Medicine) ;
  • Yun, Yeon-Han (Cheonansi Multicultural Support Center) ;
  • Seo, Min (Department of Parasitology and Research Center for Mummy, College of Medicine, Dankook University)
  • Received : 2014.09.30
  • Published : 2015.04.30
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Abstract

At present, more than 500,000 foreigner workers, most of them from Asian countries with high parasitic infection rates, are working in Korea. Since investigation into the prevalence of parasitic infections in foreigner workers has not yet been conducted in Korea, the present study was performed to determine the parasitic infection status of foreigner workers living in Cheonan City, Chungcheongnam-do (Chungnam Province) and to plan, on that basis, effective control measures. From October to December 2013, the parasitic infection status of 231 foreigner workers employed at selected Cheonan-si small businesses was investigated by both stool examination and ELISA. A total of 60 individuals (26.0%) were found to be infected with parasites. The stool examination detected 14 positive cases (6.1%), and ELISA revealed 50 positive people (21.6%), for at least a kind of parasitic disease. The most common infection was cysticercosis (8.7%), followed by toxocariasis (7.8%) and clonorchiasis (7.4%). Since it was proved that parasitic infections were prevalent among foreigner workers living in Cheonan City, more comprehensive study is urgently needed in order to understand the nationwide status of parasitic infections in foreigner workers.

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References

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