On February 2022, WHO released the evidence-based guideline on control and elimination of human schistosomiasis, with aims to guide the elimination of schistosomiasis as a public health problem in disease-endemic countries by 2030 and promote the interruption of schistosomiasis transmission across the world. Based on the One Health concept, six evidence-based recommendations were proposed in this guideline. This article aims to analyze the feasibility of key aspects of this guideline in Chinese national schistosomiasis control program and illustrate the significance to guide the future actions for Chinese national schistosomiasis control program. Currently, the One Health concept has been embodied in the Chinese national schistosomiasis control program. Based on this new WHO guideline, the following recommendations are proposed for the national schistosomiasis control program of China: (1) improving the systematic framework building, facilitating the agreement of the cross-sectoral consensus, and building a high-level leadership group; (2) optimizing the current human and livestock treatments in the national schistosomiasis control program of China; (3) developing highly sensitive and specific diagnostics and the framework for verifying elimination of schistosomiasis; (4) accelerating the progress towards elimination of schistosomiasis and other parasitic diseases through integrating the national control programs for other parasitic diseases.
China/epidemiology* ; Disease Eradication ; Humans ; Public Health ; Schistosomiasis/prevention & control* ; World Health Organization

Schistosomiasis is a parasitic disease that seriously hinders socioeconomic developments and threatens public health security. To achieve the global elimination of schistosomiasis as a public health problem by 2030, WHO released the guideline on control and elimination of human schistosomiasis on February, 2022, with aims to provide evidence-based recommendations for schistosomiasis morbidity control, elimination of schistosomiasis as a public health problem, and ultimate interruption of schistosomiasis transmission in disease-endemic countries. Following concerted efforts for decades, great achievements have been obtained for schistosomiasis control in China where the disease was historically highly prevalent, and the country is moving towards schistosomiasis elimination. This article reviews the successful experiences from the national schistosmiasis control program in China, and summarizes their contributions to the formulation and implementation of the WHO guideline on control and elimination of human schistosomiasis. With the progress of the "Belt and Road" initiative, the world is looking forward to more China's solutions on schistosomiasis control.
China/epidemiology* ; Disease Eradication ; Humans ; Public Health ; Schistosomiasis/prevention & control* ; World Health Organization

BACKGROUND/AIMS: This nationwide, multicenter prospective randomized controlled trial aimed to compare the efficacy and safety of 10-day concomitant therapy (CT) and 10-day sequential therapy (ST) with 7-day clarithromycin-containing triple therapy (TT) as first-line treatment for Helicobacter pylori infection in the Korean population. METHODS: Patients with H. pylori infection were assigned randomly to 7d-TT (lansoprazole 30 mg, amoxicillin 1 g, and clarithromycin 500 mg twice daily for 7 days), 10d-ST (lansoprazole 30 mg and amoxicillin 1 g twice daily for the first 5 days, followed by lansoprazole 30 mg, clarithromycin 500 mg, and metronidazole 500 mg twice daily for the remaining 5 days), or 10d-CT (lansoprazole 30 mg, amoxicillin 1 g, clarithromycin 500 mg, and metronidazole 500 mg twice daily for 10 days). The primary endpoint was eradication rate by intention-to-treat (ITT) and per-protocol (PP) analyses. RESULTS: A total of 1,141 patients were included. The 10d-CT protocol achieved a markedly higher eradication rate than the 7d-TT protocol in both the ITT (81.2% vs 63.9%) and PP analyses (90.6% vs 71.4%). The eradication rate of the 10d-ST protocol was superior to that of the 7d-TT protocol (76.3% vs 63.9%, ITT analysis; 85.0% vs 71.4%, PP analysis). No significant differences in adherence or serious side effects were found among the three treatment arms. CONCLUSIONS: The 10d-CT and 10d-ST regimens were superior to the 7d-TT regimen as standard first-line treatment in Korea.
Amoxicillin ; Arm ; Clarithromycin ; Disease Eradication ; Helicobacter pylori ; Helicobacter ; Humans ; Korea ; Lansoprazole ; Metronidazole ; Prospective Studies

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Both bismuth-containing quadruple therapy and moxifloxacin-containing triple therapy have been suggested as second-line eradication therapy for Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) infection. We aimed to evaluate the efficacy of 14-day moxifloxacin-containing triple therapy (14-EAM) in second-line H. pylori eradication in comparison to 7-day bismuth-containing quadruple therapy (7-RBMT). METHODS: From January 2011 to December 2015, a total of 569 patients who failed to respond to first-line triple therapy and who subsequently received second-line 7-RBMT or 14-EAM were retrospectively enrolled. The eradication rates were identified using per-protocol (PP) analysis. H. pylori eradication was confirmed by a 13C-urea breath test (UBiT-IR300®; Otsuka Electronics, Co., Ltd., Osaka, Japan) or a rapid urease test (CLOtest®; Delta West, Bentley, Australia) at least 4 weeks after completion of eradication therapy. RESULTS: A total of 487 and 82 patients received 7-RBMT and 14-EAM, respectively. PP eradication rates were 93.6% (366/391; 95% CI, 91.0–95.9%) with 7-RBMT and 73.8% (48/65; 95% CI, 63.1–84.6%) with14-EAM (p < 0.001). Therefore, the eradication rates with 7-RBMT were significantly higher than with 14-EAM according to the PP analysis. The adverse event rate was 17.1% (67/391) with 7-RBMT and 7.7% (5/65) with 14-EAM (p=0.065). In terms of risk factors, multivariate analysis revealed that 14-EAM (OR, 5.47; 95% CI, 2.74–10.93) was related to H. pylori eradication failure. CONCLUSIONS: 7-RBMT may be an effective second-line therapy in patients who failed to respond to first-line triple therapy in Korea, where there is a high prevalence of H. pylori infection.
Bismuth* ; Breath Tests ; Disease Eradication ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Korea ; Multivariate Analysis ; Prevalence ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Urease

Communicable Disease Control ; methods ; trends ; Disease Eradication ; organization & administration ; Hepatitis, Viral, Human ; epidemiology ; prevention & control ; Humans ; Public Health ; Singapore ; epidemiology

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The eradication rate of Helicobacter pylori with standard triple therapy as a first-line treatment has decreased to 70~85%. Recently, concomitant therapy has been reported to overcome this decrease in eradication rate to some degree. The aim of this retrospective study was to compare the efficacy of 7-day concomitant therapy with that of 7-day standard triple therapy as a first-line treatment. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Between March 2013 and February 2017, the medical records of 261 patients who received 7-day standard triple therapy or 7-day concomitant therapy as a first-line H. pylori eradication therapy were retrospectively evaluated. Successful eradication was confirmed using the 13C-urea breath test 6 to 8 weeks after the end of the eradication therapy. RESULTS: This study included 261 patients, 140 patients in the standard triple therapy group and 121 in the concomitant therapy group. The H. pylori eradication rate by intention-to-treat analysis was 60.0% in the standard triple therapy group and 81.0% in the concomitant therapy group (P<0.001). In the per-protocol analysis, the H. pylori eradication rates in the standard triple therapy and concomitant therapy groups were 69.4% and 88.3%, respectively (P<0.001). CONCLUSIONS: Concomitant therapy was more effective as a first-line H. pylori eradication therapy than the standard triple therapy.
Breath Tests ; Disease Eradication ; Helicobacter pylori ; Helicobacter ; Humans ; Medical Records ; Retrospective Studies

Antimalarials ; therapeutic use ; Disease Eradication ; economics ; Humans ; Malaria ; diagnosis ; drug therapy ; prevention & control

PURPOSE: Rabies is one of the most fatal diseases, but it is 100% preventable in animals by vaccination. In this study, we present the epidemiological features of, and national preventive measures against, rabies in Korea. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Data related to rabies and the population density of raccoon dogs in Korea were collected from the Animal and Plant Quarantine Agency, the Korean Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and the National Institute of Environmental Research. Rabies diagnosis was confirmed with a fluorescent antibody test using brain samples of animals in accordance with the procedures described by the World Organization for Animal Health. Serological assays for dogs and cattle were conducted using the fluorescent antibody virus neutralization test. RESULTS: From 1993 to 2016, a total of seven human rabies cases and 437 animal rabies cases in five different species were reported. An increase in the distribution of bait vaccine seemed to be related to a dramatic decrease in rabies prevalence in endemic rabies regions. Two Korean provinces and the capital city, Seoul, were involved in rabies outbreaks. Korean rabies strains are most closely related to the eastern Chinese strain belonging to the Arctic-like lineage. The yearly seropositive rates ranged from 50.4% to 81.2% in dogs and from 25% to 60.5% in cattle residing in endemic rabies regions. CONCLUSION: This study indicates that national preventive measures, including mass vaccination and distribution of bait vaccines, have contributed to a substantial decrease in the number of rabies cases in Korea.
Animals ; Asian Continental Ancestry Group ; Brain ; Cattle ; Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (U.S.) ; Diagnosis ; Disease Eradication ; Disease Outbreaks ; Dogs ; Epidemiology ; Humans ; Korea* ; Mass Vaccination* ; Neutralization Tests ; Plants ; Population Density ; Prevalence ; Quarantine ; Rabies* ; Raccoon Dogs ; Seoul ; Vaccination ; Vaccines

BACKGROUND/AIMS: The eradication rate of Helicobacter pylori (H. pylori) has been decreasing recently in Korea due to antibiotics resistance. The aim of this study was to investigate the trend of eradication rate and clinical factors affecting the eradication rate of H. pylori in the last 10 years in west Gyeonggi-do, Korea. METHODS: The trends of eradication rate of H. pylori, gender, age, concomitant mediations, and clinical factors were retrospectively evaluated in patients with H. pylori infection between 2006 and 2015 (n=2,485). RESULTS: The overall H. pylori eradication rate for the standard triple therapy was 82.5%. The annual eradication rates from 2006 to 2015 were 90%, 77.9%, 75.8%, 83.2%, 85.6%, 90.1%, 81.3%, 81.1%, 78.7%, and 78.8%, respectively, showing a significant decrement during the last five years (p < 0.001). Higher eradication rate was observed in males than in females (p < 0.001). Esomeprazole showed a higher eradication rate compared with pantoprazole between 2006 and 2010 (p < 0.022). Age and the use of probiotics and mucosal protective agents played no significant role in the H. pylori eradication rate. The overall eradication rate for bismuth-based quadruple therapy was 94.4%. CONCLUSIONS: The eradication rate of H. pylori over the last 10 years for first-line therapy ranged from 75.8 to 90.1%; the eradication rate for triple therapy has declined. However, the eradication rate for quadruple therapy has remained unchanged over the last 10 years.
Anti-Bacterial Agents ; Disease Eradication ; Esomeprazole ; Female ; Gyeonggi-do* ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Korea* ; Male ; Probiotics ; Protective Agents ; Retrospective Studies

BACKGROUND/AIMS: Helicobacter pylori is a distinctive pathogen that lives in the gastric mucosa and is a well known risk factor of gastric adenocarcinoma. Iron deficiency aggravates the development of H. pylori-induced premalignant and malignant lesions in a cagA-dependent manner, enhancing H. pylori virulence. The aim of this study was to identify the relationship between iron deficiency and H. pylori eradication rates. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Participants who received 7 days of first-line triple therapy with serum iron level measured in parallel were retrospectively investigated between 2005 and 2014. H. pylori eradication was confirmed by the rapid urease test or 13C-urea breath test at least 4 weeks after completion of triple therapy. Iron deficiency was defined as either a serum iron level less than 50 µg/dL or a serum ferritin level less than 12 ng/mL. RESULTS: A total of 194 patients received 7 days of first-line triple therapy along with parallel serum iron level measurements over the 10-year period. The mean average age was 53.3 years (range, 21~86 years), and 135 patients (69.6%) were male. The overall H. pylori eradication rate was 83.5%. Proportions of eradication success with ferritin level less than 12 ng/mL and iron less than 50 µg/dL were 90.5% and 88.6%, respectively. However, there was no statistical difference in eradication rates according to iron deficiency. CONCLUSIONS: Iron deficiency might not be related with H. pylori eradication rates in this study. Further large-scale studies are needed to confirm this result.
Adenocarcinoma ; Breath Tests ; Disease Eradication ; Ferritins ; Gastric Mucosa ; Helicobacter pylori* ; Helicobacter* ; Humans ; Iron* ; Male ; Retrospective Studies ; Risk Factors ; Urease ; Virulence