Korean J Parasitol.  2018 Dec;56(6):545-552. 10.3347/kjp.2018.56.6.545.

Genetic Diversity of Plasmodium vivax Causing Epidemic Malaria in the Republic of Korea

Affiliations
  • 1Department of Biotechnology, College of Biomedical and Health Science, Konkuk University, Chungju 27478, Korea.
  • 2Department of Medicine, Division of Endocrinology, Diabetes, and Metabolism, UAB Comprehensive Diabetes Center, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL 35294, USA.
  • 3Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine, Inha University School of Medicine, Incheon 22212, Korea. tongsookim@inha.ac.kr
  • 4Department of Parasitology and Tropical Medicine and Institute of Health Sciences, Gyeongsang National University College of Medicine, Jinju 52727, Korea.
  • 5Korea Association of Health Promotion, Seoul 07653, Korea. cjy@snu.ac.kr

Abstract

Plasmodium vivax is more challenging to control and eliminate than P. falciparum due to its more asymptomatic infections with low parasite densities making diagnosis more difficult, in addition to its unique biological characteristics. The potential re-introduction of incidence cases, either through borders or via human migrations, is another major hurdle to sustained control and elimination. The Republic of Korea has experienced re-emergence of vivax malaria in 1993 but is one of the 32 malaria-eliminating countries to-date. Despite achieving successful nationwide control and elimination of vivax malaria, the evolutionary characteristics of vivax malaria isolates in the Republic of Korea have not been fully understood. In this review, we present an overview of the genetic variability of such isolates to increase understanding of the epidemiology, diversity, and dynamics of vivax populations in the Republic of Korea.

Keyword

Genetic diversity; vivax population; Korea

MeSH Terms

Asymptomatic Infections
Diagnosis
Epidemiology
Genetic Variation*
Human Migration
Incidence
Korea
Malaria*
Malaria, Vivax
Parasites
Plasmodium vivax*
Plasmodium*
Population Characteristics
Republic of Korea*
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