[Infection Status of Intestinal Helminths in 2022]

The Division of Vectors and Parasitic Diseases at the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency has been using Active Case Detection programs to investigate the infection status of intestinal parasites among residents of endemic areas and facilitate anthelminthics treatment. The survey used a test method that gathers stool samples from residents in the epidemic areas. In this survey, we investigated including essential areas divided into eup, myeon, dong. The overall positive rate of intestinal parasite eggs was 5.3%. The infection rate was the highest at 3.3% for Clonorchis sinensis, followed by 1.7% for heterophyid flukes and 0.2% for Trichuris trichiura. Geographically, the overall intestinal parasite infection rate was highest in Gwangyang-si (12.9%), while the infection rate of C. sinensis was highest in Andong-si (9.7%) among all participated areas. Continuous surveillance, education, and treatment are recommended to reduce the infection rate of intestinal parasites in endemic areas.