A study was conducted during three year (January 2002- December 2004) in the Khanh Phu commune, Khanh Vinh district, Khanh Hoa province to investigate the malaria inoculation indices in villages, forest border and forest inside. Human landing collection was made during 6pm - 6am. An. dirus was marked, released and recaptured at the same night for assessment of dispersion, blood digestion and survival time. Dissection was made for determination of oocyte and parous rate, survival time and average life expectancy and malaria inoculation
Malaria ; Forestry

The authors studied epidemiology of forest malaria through a cross-sectional community based study in one province, central Vietnam. A total of 4036 individuals were investigated in 2004. Results: the prevalence of antibodies to P.falciparum was constantly about 20.5% and the prevalence rate of malaria parasite was 13.3%. Multivariate analysis showed that the regular forest activity was the main risk factor for malaria infection (OR = 5.51, p< 0.005). The population- attributable fraction for regular forest activity was estimated to be 99.5%. The results confirmed the major role played by forest activity on the malaria burden in this area and provide the basic for targeting control activities to forest worker. New interventions based on insecticide-treated materials need to urgently evaluated like: bed nets, hammocks...
Malaria ; Risk Factors ; Forestry

A product with 15% DEET gave an overall bite protection of 85%, without evidence for a diminishing effect through the night. When mosquitoes had a choice at one site between people using repellent or not, the repellent had most effect (88% protection with choice and 57% - 79% without choice). A product containing 27% DEET worked significantly better with 93% overall bite protection. The 15% product is locally available, cheap (0.8 US$ for a flacon of 75ml which lasted 30 person-nights) and in the opinion of the capturers well compatible
Culicidae ; Malaria ; Forestry

OBJECTIVETo study the growth of Glycyrrhiza uralensis under different planting density for providing theoretic evidence for reasonable planting density.

METHODThe field experiment was designed by single factor randomized block.

RESULTThe plant height, root diameter, main root length and branches of main stem were all decreased with increasing planting density of G. uralensis. Meanwhile, dry matter accumulation on root, leaf, aerial part and rhizome were all decreased with increasing planting density.

CONCLUSIONTwo hundred and seventy thousand plants/hm2 was feasible planting density.

OBJECTIVES: Worker's health is an important index used to evaluate working conditions and to prioritize prevention policies. However, this index has never before been calculated in Korea. The purpose of this study was to calculate the prevalence of health problems caused by work related sickness absences using the second Korean Working Condition Survey (KWCS) conducted in 2010. METHODS: The second KWCS was conducted from June to October 2010 as a household survey for employed workers. The work related sickness absence rate was estimated using gender, age, business size, occupational status, level of education, and level of income. A logistic regression was performed in order to evaluate the relationship of the work related sickness absence with general characteristics and work-related conditions. RESULTS: The rate of work related sickness absence was 1.8(+/-0.2)% for all workers, with 6.0(+/-0.3)% of it being in agriculture, forestry, and fishing, and 2.2(+/-0.5)% in manufacturing. Musculoskeletal disorders (MSD) were the most common work related disorder [1.01(+/-0.12)%], followed by psychiatric disorders [0.18(+/-0.05)%], and respiratory disorders [0.14(+/-0.04)%]. The highest odds ratio (OR) for the work related sickness absence rate was in self-employed workers with employees (OR=2.23, 95%CI=1.05~4.74). CONCLUSIONS: The work related sickness absence rate for all workers, both self-employed and employed, including agriculture, forestry and fishing workers, and wholesale and retail trade workers was 1.8(+/-0.2)%. Because the KWCS was based on a self-reported questionnaire survey, this figure might be overestimated. In addition, it might omit chronic occupational disease and death cases.
Agriculture ; Commerce ; Employment ; Family Characteristics ; Forestry ; Korea ; Logistic Models ; Occupational Diseases ; Odds Ratio ; Prevalence ; Questionnaires

Traditional cultivation of Coptis chinensis was carried out under shield by disafforestation, which has been used for over 300 years and lead to the severe destruction of natural environment. Several ecological modes for cultivation of Coptis chinensis have been developed, which increase the yields of Coptis chinensis, protect the resources of forest, and obtain economic and ecologic benefit.
Agriculture ; methods ; Conservation of Natural Resources ; Coptis ; growth & development ; Ecosystem ; Forestry ; methods ; Plants, Medicinal ; growth & development

OBJECTIVES: Scrub typhus is the most common febrile disease in Korea during the autumn. Jeju Island is the largest island in South Korea and has a distinctive oceanic climate. This study aimed to identify epidemiologic characteristics of scrub typhus on Jeju Island. METHODS: From January 2011 to December 2016, 446 patients were diagnosed with scrub typhus on Jeju Island. The patients' personal data and the environmental factors that might be related to scrub typhus were investigated and retrospectively analyzed. RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 58-years-old (range, 8 to 91) and 43% of them worked in the agricultural, forestry or livestock industry. Regardless of their job, 87% of the patients had a history of either working outdoors or of other activities before developing scrub typhus. The south and southeast regions of Jeju Island, especially Namwon-eup, showed the highest incidence of scrub typhus. Workers in mandarin orange orchards seemed to be the highest risk group for scrub typhus infection. CONCLUSIONS: Scrub typhus on Jeju Island showed unique characteristics. To efficiently prevent scrub typhus, each year individual regional approaches should be developed based on the epidemiologic characteristics of the disease.
Citrus sinensis ; Climate ; Forestry ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Livestock ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Rickettsia ; Scrub Typhus*

OBJECTIVES: Scrub typhus is the most common febrile disease in Korea during the autumn. Jeju Island is the largest island in South Korea and has a distinctive oceanic climate. This study aimed to identify epidemiologic characteristics of scrub typhus on Jeju Island.METHODS: From January 2011 to December 2016, 446 patients were diagnosed with scrub typhus on Jeju Island. The patients' personal data and the environmental factors that might be related to scrub typhus were investigated and retrospectively analyzed.RESULTS: The median age of the patients was 58-years-old (range, 8 to 91) and 43% of them worked in the agricultural, forestry or livestock industry. Regardless of their job, 87% of the patients had a history of either working outdoors or of other activities before developing scrub typhus. The south and southeast regions of Jeju Island, especially Namwon-eup, showed the highest incidence of scrub typhus. Workers in mandarin orange orchards seemed to be the highest risk group for scrub typhus infection.CONCLUSIONS: Scrub typhus on Jeju Island showed unique characteristics. To efficiently prevent scrub typhus, each year individual regional approaches should be developed based on the epidemiologic characteristics of the disease.
Citrus sinensis ; Climate ; Forestry ; Humans ; Incidence ; Korea ; Livestock ; Republic of Korea ; Retrospective Studies ; Rickettsia ; Scrub Typhus

OBJECTIVES: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is one of the most important work related musculo-skeletal diseases in Korea. However, there are few epidemiologic studies on the work-related CTS (WR-CTS). This study aimed to investigate the epidemiologic characteristics of WR-CTS in Korea. METHODS: Data obtained from the"CTS Surveillance System". Physician case-reports in the surveillance were used to document patterns of WR-CTS by age, gender, occupation, sign, symptom, working history. RESULTS: Six hundred and seventy-two cases of WR-CTS were ascertained. of which 314 with complete information on occupational history were analyzed. It has been estimated that as many as 72% of all CTS cases are work-related. The highest proportion of WR-CTS was observed in 'elementary occupation workers', followed by 'skilled agricultural, forestry and fishery workers'. The distributions of WR-CTS cases were similar with respect to age, obesity, and past medical history. The proportion of WR-CTS was higher in females. There was no significant difference in physical examination findings between WR-CTS and non WR-CTS cases. Repetitive work and the inappropriate hand posture seemed to be the risks for WR-CTS. CONCLUSION: WR-CTS is a significant public health problem. The CTS surveillance system is quite useful to elucidate the characteristics of WR-CTS, but it remains of limited use in targeting specific industries and occupations for intervention.
Carpal Tunnel Syndrome* ; Epidemiologic Studies ; Female ; Fisheries ; Forestry ; Hand ; Humans ; Korea* ; Obesity ; Occupations ; Physical Examination ; Posture ; Public Health

Previous studies on the vast increase in suicide mortality in Southeast Asia have indicated that suicide rates increase in parallel with a rise in unemployment or during periods of economic recession. This paper examines the effects of economic recession on suicidal rates amongst agriculture, fisheries, and forestry workers in Korea. Monthly time-series gross domestic product (GDP) data were linked with suicidal rates gathered from the cause of death records between1993-2008. Data were analyzed using generalized additive models to analyze trends, while a polynomial lag model was used to assess the unconstrained time lag effects of changes in GDP on suicidal rate. We found that there were significant inverse correlations between changes in GDP and suicide for a time lag of one to four months after the occurrence of economic event. Furthermore, it was evident that the overall relative risks of suicide were high enough to bring about social concern.
Agriculture ; Asia, Southeastern ; Cause of Death ; Economic Recession ; Fisheries ; Forestry ; Gross Domestic Product ; Guanosine Diphosphate ; Korea ; Suicide ; Unemployment