Clonorchis Sinensis Infection Rate Drops to 3.9% Among Nakdong and Seomjin River Basin Residents

KDCA Achieves Tangible Results Through Focused Management in High-Prevalence Areas

The prevalence rate of Clonorchis sinensis infection among residents in the Nakdong River and Seomjin River basins, where intestinal parasite infection rates have historically been high, decreased by 1.0 percentage point over the past year.

On December 11, the Korea Disease Control and Prevention Agency (KDCA) announced that a survey of 25,834 residents from 39 cities and counties surrounding the Han River, Nakdong River, Geum River, Seomjin River, and Yeongsan River was conducted this year to assess the infection status for 11 types of intestinal parasites, including Clonorchis sinensis and intestinal flukes. The overall infection rate was found to be 4.4%.

This represents a decrease of 0.1 percentage point compared to last year's rate of 4.5%. The positive rate for Clonorchis sinensis, a representative intestinal parasite in Korea, also dropped by 0.2 percentage point from 2.3% last year to 2.1% this year.

In particular, the positive rate for Clonorchis sinensis in high-prevalence areas of the Nakdong River and Seomjin River basins was 3.9%, down by 1.0 percentage point from 4.9% last year, clearly demonstrating the effectiveness of the KDCA’s focused management efforts in these regions.

Since 2005, the KDCA has been conducting annual surveys on intestinal parasitic diseases in cooperation with local governments, successfully reducing the positive rate for Clonorchis sinensis in endemic areas from nearly 10% at the start of the program to below 3%. However, as some regions have seen persistently high positive rates in recent years, the agency continues to strengthen focused management, including investigations into sources of infection and enhanced preventive education in these high-prevalence areas.

This year’s survey found a 2.0% positive rate for intestinal flukes, 0.2% for whipworm, and 0.1% for Paragonimus westermani. By age and gender, men in their 60s had the highest positive rate for intestinal parasites at 8.9%. By region, the Seomjin River basin showed a positive rate of 6.0%, and the Nakdong River basin 4.4%-both higher than other areas.

Im Seungkwan, Commissioner of the KDCA, stated, "The significant decrease in infection rates in high-prevalence areas such as the Nakdong and Seomjin rivers demonstrates that our focused management strategies are yielding tangible results on the ground." He added, "We will continue to actively identify sources of infection promptly, strengthen early treatment support and preventive education, and accelerate the eradication of intestinal parasites."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.