Parasitic Worms on Rise
By Bae Ji-sook
Staff Reporter
Parasitic worms used to be such a health concern that students submitted their stool samples to check for the problem. While this is no longer the case, recent research shows that there may be a false sense of security.
According to doctors at the Samsung Medical Center, the number of helminthes detected in human intestines has jumped 1.2 times annually for the period of 2000 to 2006.
Dr. Lee Jun-haeng of the internal medicine department searched the records of 78,073 people who had visited the hospital for regular health checkups between 2000 and 2006. Their average age was 49.4.
By looking into their bowels, the research team found that 2.51 percent had helminthes in their intestines in 2000, but the figure jumped to 2.63 percent in 2001 and 4.45 percent in 2006.
Most of the detected helminthes were roundworms, whipworms, liver flukes, endolimax nanas, as well as five others.
Doctors attributed the largest reason for the increase to people being less aware of the harm of these helminthes. "Liver flukes are parasites in freshwater fish, which is eaten raw as sashimi by an increasing number of people. The pills we eat to kill of such helminthes usually only work for the eelworms, which leaves plenty of space for others," the doctor was quoted as saying.
"People consider being careful about helminthes as old fashion. However, they can cause severe stomachaches, weight loss and other symptoms, which can require medical treatment."
In his report, Lee said residents of Busan, Ulsan and other South Gyeongsang provincial regions showed the biggest increase while Seoul, Incheon, Gyeonggi also showed significant jumps.
Lee's findings were printed in the Korean Association of Internal Medicine journal.