Travel-related parasitic infections

Among various kinds of tropical diseases, which tourists to tropical areas may be exposed to and return home infected with, the most important one from the Korean view point is malaria. The life cycles of Plasmodium falciparum and P. malariae could hardly be established even after importation, however, one cannot completely rule out a possibility of re-establishment of tertian malaria, due to P. vivax, in Korea. In view of this possibility, the current malaria situation in countries of Western Pacific and Southeast Asia is briefly discussed.