To determine the impact of Cysticercus cellulose (C. cellulose) infection on mental health among school-aged children in Tibetan agricultural areas of Sichuan Province.
 Methods: In October 2015, all primary schools located in Tibetan agricultural areas in Yajiang, Ruoergai, and Muli county of Sichuan Province were selected as the research sites. All school-aged children at five- and six-grade were enrolled for the study by a multistage stratified cluster sampling method. Antibodies against C. cellulose were detected. Mental Health Test and questionnaire survey were conducted for school-aged children to collect data. The impact of C. cellulose infection on mental health among school-aged children was analyzed with the multilevel linear regression.
 Results: A total of 2 453 school-aged children were investigated. The C. cellulose seropositive rate was 6.03% (148/2 453). There were 0.16% (4/2 453) patients with seropositive accompanied by seizure, 2.28% (56/2 453) with seropositive accompanied by headache, 2.08% (51/2 453) with seropositive accompanied by frequent weak, and 0.41% (10/2 453) were seropositive accompanied by frequent nausea. The rate of C. cellulose infection was 4.53% (111/2 453). The mean score of the mental health test was 6.59±2.61. There were significant difference in score of mental health test in children whose demographic characteristics were different. The mental health scores of school-aged children were clustered at the school level. After controlling the factors of demographic characteristics, the result of multilevel model demonstrated that the factor of school-aged children with C. cellulose seropositive accompanied by headache was statistically significant (β=1.14, P=0.017).
 Conclusion: The status of C. cellulose infection among school-aged children in Tibetan agricultural areas is not optimistic. C. cellulose infection has impacted on mental health of local school-aged children. It is necessary to strengthen the prevention and control of C. cellulose infection in epidemic area.
Animals ; Child ; Cysticercosis ; complications ; diagnosis ; epidemiology ; Cysticercus ; Humans ; Mental Health ; Neurodevelopmental Disorders ; epidemiology ; etiology ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Tibet ; epidemiology

Seroprevalence of the IgG antibodies for Clonorchis sinensis, Paragonimus westermani, Taenia solium metacestode (cysticercus), and Spirometra erinacei plerocercoid (sparganum) was measured using enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) in sera of patients in Korea from 1993 to 2006. A total of 74,448 specimens referred nationwide from 121 hospitals revealed an IgG positive rate of 7.6% for the 4 parasites. The IgG positive rate (18.7%) for the 4 parasites in 1993 decreased gradually to 6.6% in 2006. Individual positive rate decreased from 5.2% (1993) to 1.6% (2006) for C. sinensis, from 2.8% (1993) to 1.1% (2006) for P. westermani, from 8.3% (1993) to 2.2% (2006) for cysticercus, and from 2.6% (1993) to 1.6% (2006) for sparganum. The positive rate was highest (21.2%) in the group of patients who ranged in age from 50-59 yr old, and in the group that was referred from the Seoul area (55.9%). In conclusion, our results suggest that tissue invading parasitic infections should always be included in differential diagnosis for patients with eosinophilia associated lesions of the central nervous system, liver, and lungs in Korea.
Adolescent ; Adult ; Age Factors ; Aged ; Aged, 80 and over ; Animals ; Antibodies, Helminth/*blood ; Child ; Child, Preschool ; Clonorchiasis/diagnosis/*epidemiology ; Clonorchis sinensis/immunology/isolation & purification ; Cysticercosis/diagnosis/*epidemiology ; Cysticercus/immunology/isolation & purification ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Eosinophilia/immunology ; Female ; Humans ; Immunoglobulin G/blood ; Infant ; Male ; Middle Aged ; Paragonimiasis/diagnosis/*epidemiology ; Paragonimus westermani/immunology/isolation & purification ; Republic of Korea/epidemiology ; Seroepidemiologic Studies ; Sparganosis/diagnosis/*epidemiology ; Sparganum/immunology/isolation & purification

This study aimed to determine the status of common parasitic disease in Korea in 2019. Twelve parasitic diseases were selected: toxocariasis, anisakiasis, paragonimiasis, sparganosis, cysticercosis, toxoplasmosis, clonorchiasis, enterobiasis, trichuriasis, trichomoniasis, cryptosporidiosis, and malaria. Their biology, epidemiology, pathogenesis, symptoms and signs, diagnosis, treatment, and prognosis were evaluated. Of the parasitic diseases, toxocariasis was the most prevalent according to serological results. Anisakiasis should be considered when acute gastrointestinal symptoms occur with a recent past history of raw seafood ingestion. Paragonimiasis, sparganosis, and cysticercosis can be diagnosed using an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay; thus, enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay needs to be performed for suspected cases. Toxoplasmosis and cryptosporidiosis are opportunistic infections. The symptoms and signs are aggravated under immunocompromised conditions. Although the egg positivity rate of Clonorchis sinensis is higher than that of other intestinal parasitic diseases, encountering patients with complaints of symptoms caused by clonorchiasis is rare because the worm burden is low. Trichomoniasis is usually managed by gynecologists; therefore, it should be included in the differential diagnoses of vaginal diseases. The annual number of malaria cases has decreased, although it remains at approximately 500 cases per year. Malaria should be suspected when symptoms such as intermittent fever, headache, and splenomegaly are noted especially when the patients reside near demilitarized zones. Although the prevalence and number of reported cases of parasitic diseases have decreased in Korea, we should consider parasitic diseases in the list of differential diagnoses.
Animals ; Anisakiasis ; Biology ; Clonorchiasis ; Clonorchis sinensis ; Cryptosporidiosis ; Cysticercosis ; Diagnosis ; Diagnosis, Differential ; Eating ; Enterobiasis ; Enzyme-Linked Immunosorbent Assay ; Epidemiology ; Fever ; Headache ; Humans ; Korea ; Malaria ; Opportunistic Infections ; Ovum ; Paragonimiasis ; Parasitic Diseases ; Prevalence ; Prognosis ; Republic of Korea ; Seafood ; Sparganosis ; Splenomegaly ; Toxocariasis ; Toxoplasmosis ; Trichuriasis ; Vaginal Diseases