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Original Article

Epidemiological Aspects of Zika Virus Infection Cases among Overseas Travelers in Korea and Japan

Myeong-Jin Lee, Ph.D.1 , Won-Chang Lee, Ph.D.2 , Young Hwan Kwon, M.D.3

1Faculty of Health and Nutrition, Otemae University, Osaka, Japan, 2College of Veterinary Medicine, Konkuk University, 3Magok Sky Internal Medicine, Seoul, Korea

Correspondence to:
Young Hwan Kwon
Magok Sky Internal Medicine 123-28, Yangcheon-ro 30-gil, Gangseo-gu, Seoul 07595, Korea
Tel: +82-2-2663-6675
Fax: +82-70-8820-3743
E-mail: kumcim@naver.com
Received: November 30, 2022; Accepted: December 14, 2022

This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution Non-Commercial License, which permits unrestricted non-commercial use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.

Korean J Aerosp Environ Med 2022; 32(3): 89-93

Published December 31, 2022 https://doi.org/10.46246/KJAsEM.220021

Copyright © Aerospace Medical Association of Korea.

Abstract

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Purpose: Zika virus (ZIKV) infection is a mosquito-borne Flavivirus disease. we investigated the epidemiological aspects and status of imported ZIKV infection cases in Korea (Republic of) and Japan during 2016–2020.
Methods: Raw data of ZIKV infection cases from the Korea Diseases Control and Prevention Agency, and the National Institute of infectious Diseases in Japan, 2016–2020.
Results: There were 33 cases of ZIKV infection in Korea and 21 cases in Japan between 2016 and 2020. Cumulative incidence rate per 1,000,000 overseas travelers (OTs) of Korea (0.30) did not substantially differ that of Japan (0.27), respectively. We observed the ZIKV infected cases of male (69.7% of total cases) were much more than that for female (30.3%) in OTs of Korea (P<0.05). However, while there was none significant differences level between males (52.4%) and females (47.6%) in OTs of Japan. On the other hands, the distribution by adjusted-age groups for ZIKV infections were similar between Korean and Japanese that total cases occurred in the over 20 to 59-years old age, clearly more showing a higher infected of ZIKV (P<0.01). The presumptive origin imported ZIKV infection cases in Korean were as follows; Southeast Asia (81.8% of total cases) and Central & South Americas (18.2%), and those in Japan, these were Southeast Asia (42.9%) and Central & South Americas (42.9%) and Oceania (4.7%), respectively.
Conclusion: This study demonstrates that there is a similar pattern of imported ZIKV disease cases in Korea and Japan. Therefore, to prevent ZIKV infections, greater attention should be paid to individuals who are planning to travel to the presumptive regions of ZIKV.

Keywords

Zika virus, Epidemiology, Korea, Japan

References

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