Concerns over early proliferation of Vibrio sepsis due to climate change...Early monitoring
Mar 14, 2025
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The Gyeongsangbuk-do Institute of Health and Environment announced on the 14th that it will monitor the distribution of enteritis vibrio, vibrio sepsis, and cholera from this month to November for seawater and brackish water (the point where seawater meets fresh water) in eight cities and counties on the east coast (Pohang, Gyeongju, Yeongdeok, and Uljin). Last year, surveillance detected 98 cases of enteritis Vibrio, the cause of food poisoning, 24 cases of Vibrio sepsis, the cause of sepsis, and 5 cases of cholera. Vibrio enteritis came out year-round, and Vibrio sepsis came out from May to November.
Jeonbuk Special Self-Governing Province's Fisheries Technology Research Institute also recently announced that it will expand the number of fishery safety survey items from 179 to 196 by adding 17 including vibrio sepsis bacteria.
The Chungnam Institute of Health and Environment will also conduct surveillance activities to prevent the infection of vibrio sepsis, a third-class legal infectious disease, at four locations on the west coast from March to November. The researcher moved up the monitoring period this year by one month from last year because Vibrio sepsis, which usually occurs intensively from May to September when sea temperatures are above 18 degrees Celsius, is accelerating the first detection period and increasing the number of occurrences due to rising sea level temperatures caused by climate change.
According to the Korea Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, Vibrio sepsis is a disease in which acute sepsis is caused by a bacterial infection of Vibrio vulnificus. It can be infected when eating raw fish and shellfish contaminated with bacteria, or when a person with a cut on the skin comes into contact with contaminated seawater. The main symptoms are fever, chills, decreased blood pressure, abdominal pain, vomiting, and diarrhea, and most of them develop skin lesions within 24 hours of symptom onset.
Vibrio sepsis occurs worldwide, and fewer than 100 patients continue to occur annually in high-risk groups with liver disease or immunocompromised conditions in Korea. Most of them occur in men over 40 years of age, and although the number of patients is not large, prevention is very important as it has a mortality rate of 50% or more once it occurs.
In order to prevent vibrio infection, fish and shellfish should be heated at least 85 degrees or washed sufficiently with running tap water before consumption. Chopping boards and knives dealing with fish and shellfish must be disinfected, and if there is a wound on the skin, contact with contaminated seawater should be avoided.
This article was translated by Naver AI translator.
