Human babesiosis is a tick-borne disease induced by the genus Babesia and has been significantly reported in the Republic of Korea. This report shows the cases of 2 patients with human babesiosis who traveled to the USA in 2019. The 2 patients experienced fever and had travel histories to babesiosis-endemic regions. The diagnoses of both cases were verified by the identification of Babesia-infected red blood cells on blood smears. One patient was found to be infected with Babesia microti using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for 18S rRNA, which discovered the phylogenetic link to the B. microti strain endemic in the USA. The 2 patients recovered from fever with subsequent hemoparasite clearance. Babesiosis could be diagnosed in anyone with histories of travel to babesiosis-endemic countries and tick bites. Furthermore, Babesia-specific PCR is required for determining geno-and phenotypic characteristics.
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Plasmodium vivax reemerged in 1993. It has been sustained for more than 25 years and become one of the important indigenous parasitic diseases in northern and western parts of the Republic of Korea near the demilitarized zone. In particular, relapse is a significant concern for the control of malaria, as short- and long-term incubation periods vary among those infected in Korea. In this study, the prevalence of asymptomatic carriers was examined among residents of high endemic areas of vivax malaria during nonseasonal transmission of mosquitoes. Blood samples from 3 endemic regions in northwestern Korea were evaluated by microscopic examination, rapid diagnostic testing, and nested PCR to identify asymptomatic patients carrying malaria parasites in the community. However, no positive malaria case among residents of endemic areas was detected. Additionally, serological analysis was carried out to measure antibodies against 3 antigenic recombinant proteins of P. vivax, merozoite surface protein 1-19, circumsporozoite surface protein-VK210, and liver-stage antigen (PvLSA-N), by the protein array method. Interestingly, seropositivity of sera between previous exposure and samples without exposure to malaria was significantly higher using the PvLSA-N antigen than the other antigens, suggesting that PvLSA-N can be used as a serological marker to analyze the degree of exposure for malaria transmission in endemic areas. This indicates a very low asymptomatic carrier prevalence during the nonmalaria season in the endemic areas of Korea.
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