The Korean parasite control program is regarded as one of the most successful examples of health care movement in Korea. This ‘Parasite Eradication Program’ which was conducted from 1969 to 1995, involved testing and treating of 300 million people. In cooperation with Japan, parasitologists and activists who participated in the parasite control program formed a common system called the ‘Mass Testing, Mass Treatment.’ This study focuses on the localization process of Praziquantel, Clonorchiasis treatment production and its application in Clonorchiasis control program. Parasitologists rapidly introduced newly developed Praziquantel, and Korean chemists quickly reverse engineered the compound to evade patent issues. This allowed for the mass production of Praziquantel at a lower price, which in turn enabled a nationwide Clonorchiasis control program. At the same time, low price and stable supply opened the private market for Praziquantel. However, acceptance and understanding of the Praziquantel differed significantly among the stakeholders. For the government, it was a means for policy propaganda, and for the health agencies, it was a means for mass scale control program, while for the public, it was a means for maintaining conventional eating habits without risk of infection. This study reveals how the material end of a disease control policy is accepted and interpreted by different actors.

The Korean parasite control program is regarded as one of the most successful examples of health care movement in Korea. This ‘Parasite Eradication Program’ which was conducted from 1969 to 1995, involved testing and treating of 300 million people. In cooperation with Japan, parasitologists and activists who participated in the parasite control program formed a common system called the ‘Mass Testing, Mass Treatment.’ This study focuses on the localization process of Praziquantel, Clonorchiasis treatment production and its application in Clonorchiasis control program. Parasitologists rapidly introduced newly developed Praziquantel, and Korean chemists quickly reverse engineered the compound to evade patent issues. This allowed for the mass production of Praziquantel at a lower price, which in turn enabled a nationwide Clonorchiasis control program. At the same time, low price and stable supply opened the private market for Praziquantel. However, acceptance and understanding of the Praziquantel differed significantly among the stakeholders. For the government, it was a means for policy propaganda, and for the health agencies, it was a means for mass scale control program, while for the public, it was a means for maintaining conventional eating habits without risk of infection. This study reveals how the material end of a disease control policy is accepted and interpreted by different actors.

Objective: Microvascular anastomosis, particularly side-to-side (STS) bypass, is a complex surgical procedure. While several suture techniques exist, none of them is superior to the others. We assessed the association between various STS bypass techniques and vessel twisting using chicken wing training models. Methods: Three suture techniques were compared over an anterior wall suture procedure. The unidirectional continuous suture (UCS) group used a downward “right-to-left” continuous suture. The reverse continuous suture (RCS) group used a downward “left-to-right” continuous suture. The interrupted suture (IS) group used the standard interrupted suture. The number of samples in each of the three groups was 30 (n=90). We compared the incidence of vessel twisting and rotation angles across groups. Results: Vessel twisting occurred in 96.7%, 56.7%, and 0% of the cases in the UCS, IS, and RCS groups, respectively. The incidence of vessel twisting differed significantly in all 3 groups (p<0.001), with an apparent trend (p=0.002). The mean rotation angles were 201˚±90.6˚, 102˚±107.6˚, and 0˚ in the UCS, IS, and RCS groups, respectively, which were significantly different (p<0.001). On excluding cases without twisting, the rotation angles of twisted vessels in the UCS and IS groups were 207.9˚±83.7˚ and 180˚±77.9˚, respectively, which yielded a significant difference between these groups (p<0.001). Conclusions We found that the incidence and trend of vessel twisting differed significantly across suture techniques. The RCS technique may aid in preventing vessel twisting in the STS bypass procedure.

DDT exemplifies success and failure of modern science and technology. Once it was heralded as technological wonder that will deliver human from misery of insect-borne infectious disease. However DDT took dramatic downturn after failure in global malaria eradication program initiated by World Health Organization, with advent of DDT-resistant strain of mosquitoes. Although insecticide resistance has been know since late 19th century, the definitions and mythologies for finding resistance has not been settled until 1950s. This paper argues that discovery of DDT-resistant strain of body lice in prisoners of war camp in Korea during the Korean War provided essential knowledge and opportunity for advancing insecticide resistance studies.
Since 1945 to the end of Korean War, US Army sprayed thousands of tonnes of DDT on Korean body and soil. DDT was only went into wide field application since 1943, was still a very new technology. The ways to deliver and utilize DDT was still under the investigation. And Korea, especially during the War, was ideal place to construct such knowledge and place it in the application. The main focus was to control public health threats, such as louse-borne typhus fever. Korean soldiers and prisoners of war exposed to regular dose of DDT, which soon gave rise to DDT-resistant strain of body lice. It was the first major outbreak of insecticide-resistance appeared in insect that has major public health importance. Until early 1950s, mechanisms of resistance, or even definition of insecticide resistance was unclear. Researchers in US Army and Department of Agriculture rushed to find the ways to quantify insecticide resistance. Network of laboratories, connecting Korea-Japan-US, had to devise new laboratory methods to rear, and test body lice. These body lice later migrate to laboratories in US, providing valuable asset for future insecticide resistance research in US. At the same time, laboratory methods of testing resistance in body louse became a standard across the globe, setting new research agenda through World Health Organization. This shows flow of knowledge, along with migration of body louse, during the Korean War. At the same time, this case show who new knowledge is constructed through the expense of involvement of minority populations, such as natives, soldiers, and prisoners of war.

Nontuberculous mycobacteria (NTM) is a type of bacteria that typically infects the pulmonary system, and NTM–central nervous system (CNS) infection, which occurs in the brain, is a very rare disease. A 64-year-old female patient presented with seizures as the main symptom and was found to have a mass of less than 1 cm in the right temporal lobe with accompanying edema. Although diseases such as tumor metastasis and parasitic cyst were suspected, the patient underwent a surgical resection, and NTM-CNS infection with abscess was diagnosed through biopsy. Antibiotic treatment was initiated after surgery, and the patient has been followed up without any significant symptoms. In this report, we review a rare case of NTM-CNS infection and discuss the understanding and treatment of this disease.

In the twenty-first century Korea, “Pristine Vegetables(청정채소, 淸淨菜蔬)” refers to organic products grown without the use of pesticides and chemical fertilizers. However, the meaning of “Pristine” was radically different until 1970s. After the Korean War, the infection rate of intestinal parasite reached almost 100 percent in Korean population. Disruption in chemical fertilizers manufacturing pressured farmers to use night-soil, which was contaminated with parasite eggs, causing the vicious cycle of infection. At the same time, rapid urbanization increased the demands of fresh vegetables in the city, leading to a large amount of semi-urban agricultural practices. This was closely linked with the national economy; as most of Korean vegetable products were contaminated with parasites, they were deemed unsuitable for export. In 1957, US Army stationed in Seoul issued a guideline for producing local vegetables acceptable for US troop consumption. This gave rise to the concept of “Pristine Vegetables” that were free of any infectious materials. These practices continued well into the 1970s. Due to the lack of sewage treatment system, the waste of urban population provided necessary fertilizer for these farmers without much cost. In order to secure public health, the Korean government actively encouraged the use of chemical fertilizers, naming the vegetables “Pristine.” This effort included the ban of night-soil in urban and semi-urban farms and the establishment of Pristine Vegetable Shops. However, the rapid decline of parasitic diseases in the population and the rising concerns of environmental pollutions reshaped Pristine Vegetables from chemical to organic in the 1980s. Thus, Pristine Vegetable in Korea during late twentieth century exemplifies rapid transformation of the urban environment, showing shifted concept of cleanness and contaminants among the public and policymakers, as well as acceptable risk of the urban environment in Korea.

Until the 1950s, Ascaris was regarded as an essential part of life which controls every aspect of human physiology among Koreans. Therefore, Ascaris should not be removed from human body. Efforts from medical professionals and the Korean government officials who wished to push forward the parasite control program, had to constantly contest with this perception of Ascaris among ordinary Koreans. In 1966, the 'Parasitic Disease Prevention Act' was promulgated and 'the Korean Association for Parasite Eradication (KAPE)' established in Korea. From the 1970s, Korea mobilized 15 million people each year to achieve the eradication goal. Such mass mobilization could not be possible without public awareness on necessity of parasite eradication. Until the early 1960s, however, Korean people were not sympathetic to the needs of eradication of parasites, especially that of Ascaris. Then, what changed the social perception towards Ascaris during the 1960s? What contributing factors allowed the mass mobilization and public involvement for that campaign? Employing newspaper articles and periodicals, this paper analyzes how social perception on Ascariasis changed during the 1960s, when the 'Parasitic Disease Prevention Act' was established. During the 1960s, Ascariasis became a shameful disease for Koreans. A series of events made Ascariasis more visible and shameful to Koreans. First event happened with Korean miners who were dispatched to Germany in 1963. When the miners turned out to have been infected with intestinal parasites, they were prohibited from work at the mines by the authorities in Germany and quarantined for several weeks. This humiliating experience of Korean expatriate people having bodies swarmed with parasites became a national shame to Koreans. The parasite infected bodies of Korean workers were revealed to the World through German newspapers. Second event happened when a child died of intestinal obstruction due to Ascariasis. The doctor retrieved 1,063 Ascaris from the bowel of the 9 year-old girl, and the photo of the 1,063 worms was published in several newspapers. It was a shocking visualization of Ascariasis in Korean society. Through these visualizations of Ascariasis, the Korean society began to perceive Ascariasis as a shame of the nation as well as that of an individual.
Ascariasis* ; Ascaris ; Child ; Communicable Disease Control ; Female ; Germany ; Human Body ; Humans ; Intestinal Obstruction ; Korea* ; Miners ; Occupational Groups ; Parasites ; Periodicals ; Physiology ; Shame* ; Shock ; Social Perception

The Korea Association of Health Promotion and Japanese Organization for International Cooperation in Family Planning (JOICFP), and Taiwan's Chinese Foundation of Health all originated from parasite control organizations. Currently these organizations hold no apparent relations to parasite control activities. However, many of the senior leaderships of these organizations including presidents, have parasitology as their background. Kunii Chojiro (the founder of Japan Association of Parasite Control (JAPC) and JOICFP) explained it as “it all started from worms.” In 1949, Kunii Chojiro established JAPC after personally experienced intestinal parasite infection. The JAPC people conducted mass examination and mass chemotherapy focusing on school children, which allowed them to have sustainable income. In 1965, the Korea Association of Parasite Eradication (KAPE) requested JAPC to assist Korea's parasite control activity. In 1968, when Korea-Japan cooperation for parasite control activity established, Japan's operating procedures were directly absorbed by KAPE. With support from JAPC and official development aid through Overseas Technical Cooperation Agency in Japan (now Japan International Cooperation Agency), Korea successfully controlled parasite infection. Post-war and cold-war geopolitics had a significant impact on Korea-Japan cooperation. In 1960s the president of KAPE, Chong-Chin Lee and Kunii Chojiro were well known figures in population control network. They did understand the importance of population control, but did not agree with the approaches taken by western population control experts. From their point of view, it had to be self-initiated, economically self sustainable grass-root activities rather than top-down activities, as experienced in their parasite control in Japan and Korea. This lead to a new Asian model named “Integrated Program”. Together with their influence in population control network, Kunii and Lee manage to secure the fund from IPPF. Emergence of Integrated Program showed how collective experience of Asia, as well as overlap of networking formed ‘Asian Model’ of public health activities. Kunii and Lee shared the same agenda to enable people to have better life through public health measures. While they funneled money from global population control network, they were more interested in securing sustainability of the parasite control activities. This paper focuses on activities and experiences of Kunii Chojiro and Chong-Chin Lee to show interplay of Cold War geopolitics in Asia led to emergence of Asian network.
Asia ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group* ; Child ; Communicable Disease Control* ; Drug Therapy ; Family Planning Services ; Financial Management ; Health Promotion ; Humans ; International Cooperation ; International Planned Parenthood Federation ; Japan ; Korea ; Leadership ; Parasites* ; Parasitology ; Population Control ; Public Health

Background: Axillary osmidrosis is a disease characterized by axillary malodor. The conventional treatment method of subdermal excision uses Metzenbaum scissors. Recently, subdermal excision using the Versajet system was introduced. However, it is an expensive surgical tool, and a recent study demonstrated a higher frequency of axillary skin necrosis with the Versajet. We propose a novel, cost-effective, and safe subdermal excision method that utilizes an electrosurgical tip cleaner (ETC). Methods: Our retrospective cohort study included 27 patients who underwent subdermal excision from June 2012 to November 2021. The patients were classified into three groups according to the surgical method: Metzenbaum scissors, Versajet, and ETC. The operation time, hospitalization cost, and postoperative complications were investigated. Results: The number of patients in the Metzenbaum scissors, Versajet, and ETC groups was seven, eleven, and nine, respectively. The mean operation time and hospitalization cost were significantly different among the three groups (P<0.05). The longest mean operation time was observed in the Metzenbaum scissors group (112.9±23.6 minutes), followed by the ETC and Versajet groups (76.4±27.1 and 64.2±24.8 minutes, respectively). The most expensive method was the Versajet ($2,346.1±517.7), followed by the ETC and Metzenbaum scissors ($1,391.8±317.7 and $1,279.6±287.5, respectively). No postoperative complications were observed. Conclusions The ETC is a novel method of subdermal excision, comparable to Metzenbaum scissors or Versajet. Therefore, it is recommended for situations where it is necessary to consider both the time and cost of surgery.