TY - JOUR
T1 - Epidemiological characteristics and risk factors of dengue infection in korean travelers
AU - Je, Sungmo
AU - Bae, Wonjun
AU - Kim, Jiyeon
AU - Seok, Seung Hyeok
AU - Hwang, Eung Soo
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2016 The Korean Academy of Medical Sciences.
PY - 2016
Y1 - 2016
N2 - Dengue viral infection has rapidly spread around the world in recent decades. In Korea, autochthonous cases of dengue fever have not been confirmed yet. However, imported dengue cases have been increased since 2001. The risk of developing severe dengue in Korean has been increased by the accumulation of past-infected persons with residual antibodies to dengue virus and the remarkable growth of traveling to endemic countries in Southeast Asia. Notably, most of imported dengue cases were identified from July to December, suggesting that traveling during rainy season of Southeast Asia is considered a risk factor for dengue infection. Analyzing national surveillance data from 2011 to 2015, males aged 20-29 years are considered as the highest risk group. But considering the age and gender distribution of travelers, age groups 10-49 except 20-29 years old males have similar risks for infection. To minimize a risk of dengue fever and severe dengue, travelers should consider regional and seasonal dengue situation. It is recommended to prevent from mosquito bites or to abstain from repetitive visit to endemic countries. In addition, more active surveillance system and monitoring the prevalence asymptomatic infection and virus serotypes are required to prevent severe dengue and indigenous dengue outbreak.
AB - Dengue viral infection has rapidly spread around the world in recent decades. In Korea, autochthonous cases of dengue fever have not been confirmed yet. However, imported dengue cases have been increased since 2001. The risk of developing severe dengue in Korean has been increased by the accumulation of past-infected persons with residual antibodies to dengue virus and the remarkable growth of traveling to endemic countries in Southeast Asia. Notably, most of imported dengue cases were identified from July to December, suggesting that traveling during rainy season of Southeast Asia is considered a risk factor for dengue infection. Analyzing national surveillance data from 2011 to 2015, males aged 20-29 years are considered as the highest risk group. But considering the age and gender distribution of travelers, age groups 10-49 except 20-29 years old males have similar risks for infection. To minimize a risk of dengue fever and severe dengue, travelers should consider regional and seasonal dengue situation. It is recommended to prevent from mosquito bites or to abstain from repetitive visit to endemic countries. In addition, more active surveillance system and monitoring the prevalence asymptomatic infection and virus serotypes are required to prevent severe dengue and indigenous dengue outbreak.
KW - Dengue Fever
KW - Mosquito-Borne Disease
KW - Prevention
KW - Risk Factor
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84995698653&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3346/jkms.2016.31.12.1863
DO - 10.3346/jkms.2016.31.12.1863
M3 - Article
C2 - 27822922
AN - SCOPUS:84995698653
VL - 31
SP - 1863
EP - 1873
JO - Journal of Korean Medical Science
JF - Journal of Korean Medical Science
SN - 1011-8934
IS - 12
ER -