Imported parasitic diseases in the Republic of Korea: status and issues

Background: International travel is increasing steadily worldwide. People in the Republic of Korea (Korea) tend to have an increased chance of overseas travel. As a result, various exotic diseases have been imported into the country. Among these, parasitic diseases constitute a considerable proportion of the cases. This continuing education column aims to review and introduce the status and issues related to imported parasitic diseases reported from 1965–2024 in Korea.Current Concepts: Sixteen types of parasitic diseases (n=4,203 patients) were imported from Africa, the Asia-Pacific region, the Middle East, and North and South America. These include protozoan diseases (malaria, babesiosis, cyclosporiasis, and leishmaniasis), nematode diseases (ancylostomiasis, angiostrongyliasis, capillariasis, gnathostomiasis, larva migrans, loiasis, and syngamosis), trematode diseases (heterophyiasis and schistosomiasis), and cestode among other diseases (hydatidosis, pentastomiasis, and myiasis). Most patients were Korean, but a few were emigrants from different countries. Where necessary, indigenous cases of the above diseases, except malaria, are also briefly presented.Discussion and Conclusion: In Korea, some parasites cannot continue their life cycles because of the absence of proper intermediate hosts or unfavorable environmental conditions. However, others, including parasites causing vivax malaria, babesiosis, cyclosporiasis, ancylostomiasis, capillariasis, gnathostomiasis, larval migrans, heterophyiasis, and hydatidosis, can establish life cycles in Korea. As the number of patients and types of imported parasitic diseases are expected to increase further, caution is needed to avoid infections with parasitic diseases while traveling abroad.