All issues > Volume 8(2); 1965

Original Article

J Korean Pediatr Soc. 1965;8(2):66-78. Published online May 31, 1965.

PREVALENCE OF POLIOMYELITIS IN KOREA

Ik-Chin Chang¹, Kyung-Ho Kim¹

¹Department of Microbiology Catholic Medical College Seoul, Korea

Abstract

Poliomyelitis is an endemic disease in Korea and is prevalent in the summer with the high incidence in June, July and August. The disease in Korea, as also was reported in Cairo, Egypt, in Tokyo, Japan and in Taipei, Taiwan, is essentially a disease of infants following disappearance of the maternal antibody. Active antibodies to each of the 3 types of poliomyelitis virus developed in older infants and young children and continued to rise until about the age of 7~9 years, when 90 percent possessed these antibodies. In most Koreans these antibodies were acquired and began to increase at almost the same age at which clinical disease began to be diagnosed. It may be presumed that a high degree of childhood immunity would be turn out adult cases of poliomyelitis. The lack of adequate diagnosis is probably responsible for the lack of report of poliomyelitis- cases in Korea. Paul, J.R., et al (1952) have devided the curves of antibody level and of poliomyelitis cases roughly intx two groups: (A) those in which the sanitary conditions are primitive and (B) those in which they are not. The curves for the poliomyelitis antibcdy level, and poliomyelitis case incidence in Korea showed a. pattern similar to those of group A as described by Paul, J. R., et al” in Cairo, Egypt, in Havana, Cuba, and in Texas, U.S. A. (1952), and also those of Kono, R., et al., in Japan (1955) and those of Yang, C. S”, et al., in Taiwan (I960). In our serological survey 78 per cent of Korean children under the age of 6 years have been acquired poliomyelitis antibodies. It was reported that 1 in 1,000 cases of poliomyelitis showed clinical illness. Eight per cent of poliomyelitis patients from the U.S. Armed Forces in Korea died (406 MGL, 1952~1957). Twenty five per cent of Korean patients admitted to the hospital because of poliomyelitis developed paralysis, and most of the remainder completely recovered. Thus in 1962 it was estimated that among about 5 million population under the age of 6 years about 1,000 would be paralyzed. The actual number of paralytic poliomyelitis cases reported to the Ministry of Health and Social Affairs in 1962 was 1183.

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