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. 2015 Apr 19:8:238.
doi: 10.1186/s13071-015-0858-6.

Current situation of scrub typhus in South Korea from 2001-2013

Hyeong-Woo Lee  1 , Pyo Yun Cho  2 , Sung-Ung Moon  3 , Byoung-Kuk Na  4 , Yoon-Joong Kang  5 , Youngjoo Sohn  6 , Seung-Ki Youn  7 , Yeongseon Hong  8 , Tong-Soo Kim  9
Affiliations

Current situation of scrub typhus in South Korea from 2001-2013

Hyeong-Woo Lee et al. Parasit Vectors. .

Abstract

Background: The bacteria Orientia tsutsugamushi is the causative agent of scrub typhus, mite-borne disease, which causes an acute febrile illness in patients. An epidemiologic study was conducted to understand the characteristics of scrub typhus in South Korea.

Findings: Reporting of tsutsugamushi disease is mandatory in South Korea since 1994. To investigate the prevalence of tsutsugamushi disease from 2001 to 2013, medical records from the Korea Center for Disease Control and Prevention were reviewed. In total, 70,914 cases were reported during 2001-2013. Of these, 37.16% (26,349) were male and 62.84% (44,565) were female. The highest number of cases was in the 60-69-year-old age group (19,484; 27.48%), and 72.22% (51,212) were in the 50-79-year-old age group. There were 65,100 cases (91.80%) reported during October (24,964; 35.20%) and November (40,136; 56.60%). An almost four-fold increase in the number of patients was observed in 2013 (10,485 cases) compared to 2001 (2,637 cases). The highest number of patients was reported in the Jeonbuk (9,425; 13.29%) and lowest in the Jeju (362; 0.51%).

Conclusions: A rapid increase in the incidence of patients with tsutsugamushi disease was observed in most areas from 2001 to 2013, with the majority of cases reported in the western and southern coast.

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Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Scrub typhus in South Korea. (A) Total incidence of scrub typhus in South Korea between 2001–2013. (B) Annual prevalence rate and space-time clustering of scrub typhus cases at the county level in South Korea. SE, Seoul; GG, Gyeonggi Province; GW, Gangwon Province; CB, Chungbuk Province; CN, Chungnam Province; JB, Jeonbuk Province; JN, Jeonnam Province; GB, Gyeongbuk Province; GN, Gyeongnam Province; JJ, Jeju Province.
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