Sociocultural factors and local customs related to taeniasis in east Asia

Taeniasis is an important medical and economic problem in many countries in East Asia. According to our estimation, there is an annual loss of US$18,673,495, US$13,641,021, and US$2,425,500 due to taeniasis in the mountainous areas of Taiwan, Cheju Island of Korea, and Samosir Island of Indonesia, respectively. Although taeniasis and cysticercosis due to Taenia solium have been reported, T. saginata asiatica is the dominate species in part of the world, especially in the mountainous and remote areas where the inhabitants are fond of eating raw or undercooked meat and/or viscera of domestic or wild animals. Therefore, sociocultural factors and local customs are the determinants in the transmission of taeniasis. In this paper, local customs and sociocultural factors including local dishes, accidental infection during dish preparation, and treatment for anaemia of children in the countries of East Asia were reviewed.