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. 1999 Jun;37(2):71-6.
doi: 10.3347/kjp.1999.37.2.71.

Border malaria characters of reemerging vivax malaria in the Republic of Korea

W G Kho  1 , J Y Jang, S T Hong, H W Lee, W J Lee, J S Lee
Affiliations

Border malaria characters of reemerging vivax malaria in the Republic of Korea

W G Kho et al. Korean J Parasitol. 1999 Jun.

Abstract

Since 1993, the number of vivax malaria cases has increased every year in the northern part of the Republic of Korea (ROK). This study was designed to characterize factors related to the reemergence of malaria in the ROK. A total of 21 cases diagnosed in 1993 and 1994 distributed sporadically in the narrow zone along the demilitarized zone (DMZ). Of total 317 civilian inhabitant cases reported in 1994-1997, 287 cases were studied and 80.8% of them resided within 10 km from the southern border of the DMZ. The frequency distribution of anti-Plasmodium vivax antibody titers using indirect fluorescent antibody test was compared in three villages in relation with distance from the DMZ. The number of inhabitants with high antibody titers was larger in the village nearest to the border than that in more distant villages. The present results highly suggested that the reemerging vivax malaria start in the border area, most possibly caused by infected mosquitoes which flew across the border. This pattern of transmission repeated year after year.

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Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Geographical distribution of vivax malaria cases detected in 1993 and 1994. The locality of each case is numbered in a circle (○) sequentially according to the onset date of illness. The localities where the sero-epidemiology was carried out are marked with triangle (▲). ADL, armistice demarcation line; DMZ, demilitarized zone; ROK, Republic of Korea; DPRK, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Distribution of 278 civilian inhabitant cases of vivax malaria in 1994-1997. The residences of each case is marked. Among 278 cases, 232 (80.8%) were detected within 10 km from the southern border of the demilitarized zone (DMZ). ADL, armistice demarcation line; ROK, Republic of Korea; DPRK, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Fig. 3
Fig. 3
Frequency distribution of antibody titers in the civilian inhabitants of Majong, Sinsan and Munsan-ri in 1998. The locality of the villages are marked in Fig. 1.
See this image and copyright information in PMC

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