A Study on the Monitoring of <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in Various Children’s Play Facilities in the Republic of Korea (2016–2021)
<i>Toxocara</i> spp. is a zoonotic soil-transmitted parasite that infects canids and felids, which causes toxocariasis in humans, migrating to organ systems, including the lungs, the ocular system, and the central nervous system. Since <i>Toxocara</i> spp. is usually transmit...
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MDPI AG
2023-10-01
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| Series: | Healthcare |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/21/2839 |
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| author | Young-Hwan Oh Hae-Jin Sohn Mi-Yeon Choi Min-Woo Hyun Seok-Ho Hong Ji-Su Lee Ah-Reum Ryu Jong-Hyun Kim Ho-Joon Shin |
| author_facet | Young-Hwan Oh Hae-Jin Sohn Mi-Yeon Choi Min-Woo Hyun Seok-Ho Hong Ji-Su Lee Ah-Reum Ryu Jong-Hyun Kim Ho-Joon Shin |
| author_sort | Young-Hwan Oh |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | <i>Toxocara</i> spp. is a zoonotic soil-transmitted parasite that infects canids and felids, which causes toxocariasis in humans, migrating to organ systems, including the lungs, the ocular system, and the central nervous system. Since <i>Toxocara</i> spp. is usually transmitted through soil, children tend to be more susceptible to infection. In order to monitor contamination with <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in children’s play facilities in the Republic of Korea, we investigated 11,429 samples of soil from daycare centers, kindergartens, elementary schools, and parks across the country from January 2016 to December 2021. Since the Environmental Health Act in the Republic of Korea was enacted in March 2008, there have been sporadic reports of contamination by <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in children’s activity zones. In this study, soil from children’s play facilities in regions across the Republic of Korea was monitored according to the Korean standardized procedure to use it as basic data for preventive management and public health promotion. The national average positive rate was 0.16% (18/11,429), and Seoul showed a higher rate of 0.63% (2/318) than any other regions while Incheon, Daegu, Ulsan, Kangwon-do, Jeollabuk-do, and Jeollanam-do were negative (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The positive rates were as follows: 0.37% (4/1089) in daycare centers, 0.13% (3/2365) in kindergartens, 0.2% (7/4193) in elementary schools, 0.09% (1/1143) in apartments, and 0.14% (3/2198) in parks. In addition, it was confirmed that 0.2% (1/498) of elementary schools and 1.17% (2/171) of parks were re-contaminated among play facilities managed with the establishment of a regular inspection cycle. Consequently, there is an essential need for continuous monitoring of <i>Toxocara</i> spp. contamination and regular education for preschool and school children in order to prevent soil-borne parasite infections. |
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| issn | 2227-9032 |
| language | English |
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| spelling | doaj.art-e2b2995de4274b44929276c154118dc32023-11-10T15:03:44ZengMDPI AGHealthcare2227-90322023-10-011121283910.3390/healthcare11212839A Study on the Monitoring of <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in Various Children’s Play Facilities in the Republic of Korea (2016–2021)Young-Hwan Oh0Hae-Jin Sohn1Mi-Yeon Choi2Min-Woo Hyun3Seok-Ho Hong4Ji-Su Lee5Ah-Reum Ryu6Jong-Hyun Kim7Ho-Joon Shin8Department of Microbiology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 16499, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Microbiology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 16499, Republic of KoreaEnvironments & Bio Evaluation Team, FITI Testing & Research Institute, Cheongju 28115, Republic of KoreaEnvironments & Bio Evaluation Team, FITI Testing & Research Institute, Cheongju 28115, Republic of KoreaEnvironments & Bio Evaluation Team, FITI Testing & Research Institute, Cheongju 28115, Republic of KoreaEnvironments & Bio Evaluation Team, FITI Testing & Research Institute, Cheongju 28115, Republic of KoreaEnvironments & Bio Evaluation Team, FITI Testing & Research Institute, Cheongju 28115, Republic of KoreaInstitute of Animal Medicine, College of Veterinary Medicine, Gyeongsang National University, Jinju 52828, Republic of KoreaDepartment of Microbiology, Ajou University School of Medicine, Suwon 16499, Republic of Korea<i>Toxocara</i> spp. is a zoonotic soil-transmitted parasite that infects canids and felids, which causes toxocariasis in humans, migrating to organ systems, including the lungs, the ocular system, and the central nervous system. Since <i>Toxocara</i> spp. is usually transmitted through soil, children tend to be more susceptible to infection. In order to monitor contamination with <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in children’s play facilities in the Republic of Korea, we investigated 11,429 samples of soil from daycare centers, kindergartens, elementary schools, and parks across the country from January 2016 to December 2021. Since the Environmental Health Act in the Republic of Korea was enacted in March 2008, there have been sporadic reports of contamination by <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in children’s activity zones. In this study, soil from children’s play facilities in regions across the Republic of Korea was monitored according to the Korean standardized procedure to use it as basic data for preventive management and public health promotion. The national average positive rate was 0.16% (18/11,429), and Seoul showed a higher rate of 0.63% (2/318) than any other regions while Incheon, Daegu, Ulsan, Kangwon-do, Jeollabuk-do, and Jeollanam-do were negative (<i>p</i> < 0.05). The positive rates were as follows: 0.37% (4/1089) in daycare centers, 0.13% (3/2365) in kindergartens, 0.2% (7/4193) in elementary schools, 0.09% (1/1143) in apartments, and 0.14% (3/2198) in parks. In addition, it was confirmed that 0.2% (1/498) of elementary schools and 1.17% (2/171) of parks were re-contaminated among play facilities managed with the establishment of a regular inspection cycle. Consequently, there is an essential need for continuous monitoring of <i>Toxocara</i> spp. contamination and regular education for preschool and school children in order to prevent soil-borne parasite infections.https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/21/2839children’s play facilities<i>Toxocara</i> spp.monitoringthe Republic of Korea |
| spellingShingle | Young-Hwan Oh Hae-Jin Sohn Mi-Yeon Choi Min-Woo Hyun Seok-Ho Hong Ji-Su Lee Ah-Reum Ryu Jong-Hyun Kim Ho-Joon Shin A Study on the Monitoring of <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in Various Children’s Play Facilities in the Republic of Korea (2016–2021) Healthcare children’s play facilities <i>Toxocara</i> spp. monitoring the Republic of Korea |
| title | A Study on the Monitoring of <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in Various Children’s Play Facilities in the Republic of Korea (2016–2021) |
| title_full | A Study on the Monitoring of <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in Various Children’s Play Facilities in the Republic of Korea (2016–2021) |
| title_fullStr | A Study on the Monitoring of <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in Various Children’s Play Facilities in the Republic of Korea (2016–2021) |
| title_full_unstemmed | A Study on the Monitoring of <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in Various Children’s Play Facilities in the Republic of Korea (2016–2021) |
| title_short | A Study on the Monitoring of <i>Toxocara</i> spp. in Various Children’s Play Facilities in the Republic of Korea (2016–2021) |
| title_sort | study on the monitoring of i toxocara i spp in various children s play facilities in the republic of korea 2016 2021 |
| topic | children’s play facilities <i>Toxocara</i> spp. monitoring the Republic of Korea |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2227-9032/11/21/2839 |
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