Parasites, Hosts and Diseases

"roundworm"

Brief Communication

Differential Change in the Prevalence of the Ascaris, Trichuris and Clonorchis infection Among Past East Asian Populations: Xiaoya Zhan, Hui-Yuan Yeh, Dong Hoon Shin, Jong-Yil Chai, Min Seo, Piers D. Mitchell; Korean J Parasitol 2019;57(6):601-605.
Published online December 31, 2019; DOI: https://doi.org/10.3347/kjp.2019.57.6.601

Abstract
PDF

As we learn more about parasites in ancient civilizations, data becomes available that can be used to see how infection may change over time. The aim of this study is to assess how common certain intestinal parasites were in China and Korea in the past 2000 years, and make comparisons with prevalence data from the 20th century. This allows us to go on to investigate how and why changes in parasite prevalence may have occurred at different times. Here we show that Chinese liver fluke (Clonorchis sinensis) dropped markedly in prevalence in both Korea and China earlier than did roundworm (Ascaris lumbricoides) and whipworm (Trichuris trichiura). We use historical evidence to determine why this was the case, exploring the role of developing sanitation infrastructure, changing use of human feces as crop fertilizer, development of chemical fertilizers, snail control programs, changing dietary preferences, and governmental public health campaigns during the 20th century.

Citations

Citations to this article as recorded by

Ancient parasite analysis: Exploring infectious diseases in past societies
Piers D. Mitchell
Journal of Archaeological Science.2024; 170: 106067. CrossRef
Updates on parasite infection prevalence in the Joseon period based on parasitological studies of human coprolites isolated from archaeological sites in the cities of Euijeongbu, Gumi, and Wonju
Chang Seok Oh, Jong-Yil Chai, Sori Min, Kyong Taek Oh, Jeonghwan Seol, Mi Kyung Song, Dong Hoon Shin, Min Seo
Parasites, Hosts and Diseases.2023; 61(1): 89. CrossRef
Liver Fluke Infection Throughout Human Evolution
Tianyi Wang, Piers D. Mitchell
Gastro Hep Advances.2022; 1(4): 500. CrossRef
Current status of Clonorchis sinensis and clonorchiasis in Korea: epidemiological perspectives integrating the data from human and intermediate hosts
Won Gi Yoo, Woon-Mok Sohn, Byoung-Kuk Na
Parasitology.2022; 149(10): 1296. CrossRef
The what, how and why of archaeological coprolite analysis
Lisa-Marie Shillito, John C. Blong, Eleanor J. Green, Eline N. van Asperen
Earth-Science Reviews.2020; 207: 103196. CrossRef