ABSTRACT
Sparganum is a plerocercoid of pseudophyllidean tapeworms, Diphyllobothrium or Spirometra spp. Human sparganosis is endemic mainly in East and Southeast Asian countries where the custom of eating raw snake or frog meat, or poulticing with snake's skin exists. From January 1995 to November 1999, an epidemiological survey was undertaken to evaluate the serum levels of anti-sparganum specific IgG antibodies in Whachon-gun residents, Korea. An enzyme- linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) and immunoblot analysis of the sera from 316 subjects were used. In addition, a stool examination from 416 inhabitants and questionnaires regarding the consumption of raw meat were given. Out of 416 inhabitants examined coprologically, one was infected with Clonorchis sinensis and two were infected with Metagonimus spp. The sera from 36 inhabitants (11.4 %) showed a positive reaction to the sparganum antigen. Out of these 36 inhabitants, the sera from 25 people were examined 7, 19, and 50 months later. The sera were found to still show positive reactions without any remarkable changes of anti-sparganum specific antibody titers except for one. An analysis of the questionnaires suggested that a history of eating of raw snakes or frogs was important risk factor for clinical or covert sparganosis (odd ratio=15.6 and 3.1, respectively).
Subject(s)
Adult , Aged , Aged, 80 and over , Child , Child, Preschool , Female , Humans , Infant , Infant, Newborn , Male , Adolescent , Animals , Antibodies, Helminth/blood , Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay , Immunoblotting , Korea/epidemiology , Middle Aged , Seroepidemiologic Studies , Sparganum/immunologyABSTRACT
BACKGROUND: Atrial fibrillation is the commonest arrhythmia seen in clinical practice. However, there have been no epidemiologic data on its prevalence in general population of Korea. We performed this study to investigate the prevalence of atrial fibrillation in Korea. METHODS: From March 1, 1999 to July 31, 2000, Kangwon Branch, Korea Association of Health (KAH) parformed electrocardiograms to investigate the health status in the general public in Kangwon Province. We analyzed these data by of chi square(2) test. RESULTS: A total of 45,133 persons participated in the health screening performed by KAH. The number of persons above 40 years old were 13,768, with men and women 6,367 (46.2%) and 7,401 (53.8%)respectively. Prevalence among those above 40 years old was 0.72% and the prevalence among men, 0.96% (61 persons) was significantly higher than that of women, 0.51% (38 persons)(p<0.01). In the group above 60 years old with the prevalence of 1.24%, a similar phenomenon was observed with 1.57% (40 persons) in men and 0.97% (29 persons) in women (p<0.05). CONCLUSION: Prevalence of atrial fibrillation became higher as age increased, specifically in persons older than 40 years.