An Epidemiological Analysis of 28 Vivax Malaria Cases in Gimpo-si, Korea, 2020

• Published in: Korean journal of parasitology Vol. 59; no. 5; pp. 507 - 512
• Main Authors: Bahk, Young Yil, Cho, Shin-Hyeong, Kim, Kyoung-Nam, Shin, Eun-Hee, Jeon, Byoung-Hak, Kim, Jeong-Hyun, Park, Sookkyung, Kwon, Jeongran, Kan, Hyesu, Kim, Miyoung, Kim, Tong-Soo
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Korea (South) 대한기생충학열대의학회 01.10.2021; The Korean Society for Parasitology and Tropical Medicine
• Subjects: Brief Communication; Humans; Malaria, Vivax - drug therapy; Malaria, Vivax - epidemiology; Plasmodium vivax; Republic of Korea - epidemiology; Republic of Korea; Epidemiologic analysis; vivax malaria; Gimpo-si; focused interview
• ISSN: 0023-4001; 1738-0006; 1738-0006
• DOI: 10.3347/KJP.2021.59.5.507

Since 1993, vivax malaria has been recognized as a public health burden in Korea. Despite of pan-governmental malaria-control efforts and the dramatic reduction in the burden of this disease over the last 10 years, vivax malaria has not been well controlled and has remained continuously endemic. We focused interviewed and examined the charts of 28 confirmed vivax malaria patients given malarial therapy for whom daily records were kept from Gimpo-si, Gyeonggido of Korea. Various epidemiological characteristics of vivax malaria, including the incubation period, medication used, and recurrence, and an evaluation of the parasitic characteristics from the focused interviews of patients from this region are described here. Most of the participants indicated the 3 most common symptoms of malaria (headache, chills and fever). Of the 28 cases, 2 experienced a second attack and there were 17 and 11 cases with short- and long-term incubation periods, respectively, yielding a short-term to long-term ratio of 1.5. Based on the parasitemia stages, most of the participants were tested at 5 to 7 days (11 cases) and 7 to 15 days (11 cases) after initial wave of asexual parasites. In conclusion, public health authorities should consider developing management measures to decrease the time lag for diagnosis and drafting unified and robust guidelines for drug use for malaria and drawing up unified and robust guidelines on the use of medication for malaria. It also suggests that routine monitoring, surveillance, and precise medical surveys in high-risk vivax malaria endemic areas are pivotal to controlling this persistent public disease and finally eliminating it from Korea.