Paleopathological Considerations on Malaria Infection in Korea before the 20th Century
Malaria, one of the deadliest diseases in human history, still infects many people worldwide. Among the species of the genusPlasmodium,P. vivaxis commonly found in temperate-zone countries including South Korea. In this article, we first review the history of malarial infection in Korea by means of studies on Joseon documents and the related scientific data on the evolutionary history ofP. vivaxin Asia. According to the historical records, malarial infection was not unusual in pre-20th-century Korean society. We also found that certain behaviors of the Joseon people might have affected the host-vector-pathogen relationship, which could explain why malarial infection prevalence was so high in Korea at that time. In our review of genetic studies onP. vivax, we identified substantial geographic differentiation among continents and even between neighboring countries. Based on these, we were able to formulate a strategy for future analysis of ancientPlasmodiumstrains in Korea.