Abstract

A survey on the prevalence of intestinal parasites was performed during the period from April to June of 1969, to evaluate the present status of parasitic infections in ROK Army soldiers. Stool specimens of 1,0l2 soldiers were collected from a camp located in Won-Ju area, and examined by the method of formalin-ether sedimentation technique. For protozoan cysts, examined slide was stained with Lugol's iodine solution and for eggs of Enterobius, the Graham's scotch cellulose tape anal swab technique was applied. The results obtained in this survey were as follows: Of the 1,012 soldiers examined, 95.0 percent were found infected by one or more intestinal parasites and 28.7 percent were found positive for protozoan cysts. The positive rates of each parasites were; A. lumbricoides 61.0 percent, T. trichiurus 73.4 percent, hookworm 17.5 percent, T. orientalis 9.5 percent, E. vermicularis 0.1 percent (from stool specimen), C. sinensis 8.8 percent, M. yokogawai 1.1 percent, Taenia sp. 1.0 percent (from stool), H. nana 0.3 percent and E. histolytica 7.4 percent. E. coli 12.6 percent, E. nana 5.9 percent, I. buetchlii 0.7 pecent, G. lamblia 6.1 percent, and C. mesnili 0.8 percent. From the anal swabs, eggs of Enterobius were recovered in 2.6 percent, and eggs of Taenia sp. showed positive rate of 1.5 percent.