A study on the intestinal helminths of the patients in a leprosarium in Korea

Original Article


Korean J Parasitol. 1983 Jun;21(1):102-104. Korean. Published online Mar 20, 1994. http://dx.doi.org/10.3347/kjp.1983.21.1.102
Copyright © 1983 by The Korean Society for Parasitology


A study on the intestinal helminths of the patients in a leprosarium in Korea
Sung-Tae Hong,^Sung-Jong Hong,^Soon-Hyung Lee,^Ik-Sang Kim,^* and Jung-Sik Shin^**
^*Department of Parasitology, College of Medicine, Seoul National University, Korea.
^**National Sorokdo Hospital, Korea.


Abstract
A total of 2,026 leprosy patients of the National Sorokdo Hospital was examined their intestinal parasites by cellophane thick smear method in January 1983. The egg positive cases of Taenia spp. were treated with bithionol and the segments of Taenia were collected for species identification. The results were as follows: 1. Total egg positive rate of any kind helminth was 78.2% and cumulative total was 85.2%. The egg positive rate for each helminth was as follow; Taenia spp. 3.4%, Ascaris lumbricoides 4.5%, Trichuris trichiura 72.l%, Clonorchis sinensis 2.8% and other 0.05%. 2. A total of 66 Taenia egg positive cases was treated; out of them proglottids of Taenia were collected from 26 cases. All of the collected worms were identified as T. saginata. The results revealed significantly high egg positive rate of T. trichiura. However, A. lumbricoides was found to be controlled considerably by repeated chemotherapy during past 3 years. If chemotherapeutic agent is replaced with oxantel-pyrantel tablet, better result is expected. No clue was found for prevalence of T. solium from both human and the pig in the island.

Tables


	Table 1 The egg positive rates by the village or ward in National Sorokdo Hospital

References


1.	Chai JY, Yang YT, Lee SH, Seo BS. The Detectability Of Helminth Eggs From Feces By Cellophane Thick Smear Technique. Korean J Parasitol 1982;20(1):14–20.

2.	Rim HJ, Song KW, Joo KH, Lee JS, Kim JJ. [An Epidemiological Note On The Taeniasis In Korea]. Korean J Parasitol 1980;18(2):235–240.

3.	Seo BS, Rim HJ, Loh IK, Lee SH, Cho SY, Park SC, Bae JW, Kim JH, Lee JS, Koo BY, Kim KS. [Study On The Status Of Helminthic Infections In Koreans]. Korean J Parasitol 1969;7(1):53–70.