• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.31 no.1
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• pp.71-74
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• 1993

A 43-year-old Korean woman with billary ascariasis accompanied by cholellthiasis is reported. Her chief complaints were abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting. She had the past history of several attacks of abdominal pain in her childhood. ciliary stones were recovered from the left hepatic duct after cholecystectomy, which contained degenerated cuticle or body wall, and numerous eggs of Ascaris lumbriooides. It is strongly suggested that the ciliary stones were formed from the dead Ascmis worm(s). This is a rare case of biliary ascariasis during the recent 5 years in Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.56 no.3
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• pp.291-294
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• 2018

Soil-transmitted helminthiases (STH) are now no longer public health problems in the Republic of Korea (South Korea), but their status are unavailable in the residents of North Korea (NK) despite the expectation of large scale traffic and future reunification of the Korean Peninsula. A total of 20 female refugees from NK who had been admitted to the Division of Gastroenterology, Dankook University Hospital, were subjected in this study. Among them, 15 refugees were examined by the colonoscopy and 10 ones were examined with the stool examination (formalin-ether sedimentation). Both diagnostic methods were commonly adopted in 5 patients. Eggs of Trichuris trichiura were detected in 7 out of 10 refugees in the stool examination. In the colonoscopy, T. trichiura worms were found in 6 (40.0%) out of 15 refugees. Total 9 (45.0%) peoples were confirmed to be infected with human whipworms. Additionally, 1 case of clonorchiasis was diagnosed in the stool examination and a worm of Ascaris lumbricoides was discovered from a trichuriasis case. These findings suggested that STH is highly prevalent in NO, in which living conditions are not so good in the aspect of general hygiene and medical care.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Service
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• v.30 no.3
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• pp.415-419
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• 2007

This study was carried out to investigate the prevalence of Ascaris suum infection of slaughtered pigs in Chungju and Eumseong area from January to June in 2007. The percentage of pigs and farms detected milk spot, adult worm, and adult worm in detected milk spot were 4.2% and 23.8%, 0.2% and 9.3%, and 4.9% and 39%, respectively. The prevalence of A suum infection from April to June 2007 was lower than that of January to March 2007. There is not enough of difference in farms' infection rate based on their breeding type.

• Korean Journal of Veterinary Research
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• v.23 no.1
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• pp.95-100
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• 1983

A survey of ascariasis in pigs (960) at three processing plants in Seoul, Daegu and Busan, Korea demonstrated that ascariasis was a common problem in pigs. Ascaris lesions (white and generalized fibrosis) were observed on 547 livers (57%) of the pigs. The greatest occurrence of Ascaris lesions (68%) were found in pigs from the Busan area.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.45 no.4
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• pp.301-306
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• 2007

We attempted to identify parasite DNA in the biliary stones of humans via PCR and DNA sequencing. Genomic DNA was isolated from each of 15 common bile duct (CBD) stones and 5 gallbladder (GB) stones. The patients who had the CBD stones suffered from cholangitis, and the patients with GB stones showed acute cholecystitis, respectively. The 28S and 18S rDNA genes were amplified successfully from 3 and/or 1 common bile duct stone samples, and then cloned and sequenced. The 28S and 18S rDNA sequences were highly conserved among isolates. Identity of the obtained 28S D1 rDNA with that of Clonorchis sinensis was higher than 97.6%, and identity of the 18S rDNA with that of other Ascarididae was 97.9%. Almost no intra-specific variations were detected in the 28S and 18S rDNA with the exception of a few nucleotide variations, i.e., substitution and deletion. These findings suggest that C. sinensis and Ascaris lumbricoides may be related with the biliary stoneformation and development.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.57 no.6
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• pp.601-605
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• 2019

As we learn more about parasites in ancient civilizations, data becomes available that can be used to see how infection may change over time. The aim of this study is to assess how common certain intestinal parasites were in China and Korea in the past 2000 years, and make comparisons with prevalence data from the 20th century. This allows us to go on to investigate how and why changes in parasite prevalence may have occurred at different times. Here we show that Chinese liver fluke (Clonorchis sinensis) dropped markedly in prevalence in both Korea and China earlier than did roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) and whipworm (Trichuris trichiura). We use historical evidence to determine why this was the case, exploring the role of developing sanitation infrastructure, changing use of human feces as crop fertilizer, development of chemical fertilizers, snail control programs, changing dietary preferences, and governmental public health campaigns during the 20th century.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.58 no.6
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• pp.603-608
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• 2020

This study was performed to find out the clusters with high parasite infection risk to discuss the geographical pattern. Clusters were detected using SatScan software, which is a statistical spatial scan program using Kulldorff's scan statistic. Information on the parasitic infection cases in Korea 2011-2019 were collected from the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Clusters of Ascaris lumbricoides infection were detected in Jeollabuk-do, and T. trichiura in Ulsan, Busan, and Gyeongsangnam-do. C. sinensis clusters were detected in Ulsan, Daegu, Busan, Gyeongsangnamdo, and Gyeongsangbuk-do. Clusters of intestinal trematodes were detected in Ulsan, Busan, and Gyeongsangnam-do. P. westermani cluster was found in Jeollabuk-do. E. vermicularis clusters were distributed in Gangwon-do, Jeju-do, Daegu, Daejeon, and Gwangju. This clustering information can be referred for surveillance and control on the parasitic infection outbreak in the infection-prone areas.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.59 no.4
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• pp.393-397
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• 2021

Although research conducted in East Asia has uncovered parasite eggs from ancient toilets or cesspits, data accumulated to date needs to be supplemented by more archaeoparasitological studies. We examined a total of 21 soil samples from a toilet-like structure at the Hwajisan site, a Baekje-period royal villa, in present-day Korea. At least 4 species of helminth eggs, i.e., Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides, Clonorchis sinensis, and Trichuris sp. (or Trichuris vulpis) were detected in 3 sediment samples of the structure that was likely a toilet used by Baekje nobles. The eggs of T. trichiura were found in all 3 samples (no. 1, 4, and 5); and A. lumbricoides eggs were detected in 2 samples (no. 4 and 5). C. sinensis and T. vulpis-like eggs were found in no. 5 sample. From the findings of this study, we can suppose that the soil-transmitted helminths were prevalent in ancient Korean people, including the nobles of Baekje Kingdom during the 5th to 7th century.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.194-197
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• 2023

Ascaris lumbricoides causes one of the most common soil-transmitted helminthiases globally. The worms mostly infect the human small intestine and elicit negligible or nonspecific symptoms, but there are reports of extraintestinal ectopic ascariasis. We describe a rare case of biliary ascariasis mistaken for biliary stent in a 72-year-old female patient with a history of liver resection. She visited our outpatient clinic complaining of right upper quadrant pain and fever for the past week. She had previously undergone left lateral sectionectomy for recurrent biliary and intrahepatic duct stones 2 years ago. Besides mildly elevated gamma-glutamyl transferase levels, her liver function tests were normal. Magnetic resonance cholangiopancreatography revealed a linear filling defect closely resembling an internal stent from the common bile duct to the right intrahepatic bile duct. A live female A. lumbricoides adult worm was removed by endoscopic retrograde cholangiopancreatography (ERCP). Despite a significant decrease of the ascariasis prevalence in Korea, cases of biliary ascariasis are still occasionally reported. In this study, a additional case of biliary ascariasis, which was radiologically misdiagnosed as the biliary stent, was described in a hepatic resection patient by the worm recovery with ERCP in Korea.

• Parasites, Hosts and Diseases
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• v.61 no.2
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• pp.198-201
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• 2023

In the past decade, experts have conducted parasitological research on archaeological specimens in Korea to collect historical parasite infection data. In these studies, parasitologists successfully described the infection pattern of each parasite species in history. However, in the first half of the 20th century, archaeoparasitological reports have been scant. In 2021, we conducted a parasitological examination of a toilet-like structure that emerged in the early 20th century. This structure was built by stacking 2 wooden barrels; and in the study samples, we found ancient Trichuris trichiura, Ascaris lumbricoides (unfertilized), and Taenia spp. eggs and therefore proposed a higher possibility that the barrels could have been used as a toilet at the time. To understand how the antihelminthic campaign since the 1960s helped reduce parasite infection rates in Korea, more research should focus on early-20th-century toilet ruins.