Severe Fever with Thrombocytopenia Syndrome Virus in Ticks in the Republic of Korea

Severe fever with thrombocytopenia syndrome virus (SFTSV) is a zoonotic, tick-borne RNA virus of the genus Bandavirus (Family Phenuiviridae), mainly reported in China, Japan, and the Republic of Korea (Korea). For the purpose of this study, a total of 3,898 adult and nymphal ticks of species Haemaphysalis longicornis (94.2%), Haemaphysalis flava (5.0%), Ixodes nipponensis (0.8%), and 1 specimen of Ixodes ovatus, were collected from the Deogyusan National Park, Korea, between April 2016 and June 2018. A single-step reverse transcriptase–nested PCR was performed, targeting the S segment of the SFTSV RNA. Total infection rate (IR) of SFTSV in individual ticks was found to be 6.0%. Based on developmental stages, IR was 5.3% in adults and 6.0% in nymphs. The S segment sequences obtained from PCR were divided into 17 haplotypes. All haplotypes were phylogenetically clustered into clades B-2 and B-3, with 92.7% sequences in B-2 and 7.3% in B-3. These observations indicate that the Korean SFTSV strains were closer to the Japanese than the Chinese strains. Further epidemiological studies are necessary to better understand the characteristics of the Korean SFTSV and its transmission cycle in the ecosystem.

Clinical Benefits of Narrow Band Imaging Bronchoscopy in Central Lung Cancer / 결핵및호흡기질환

BACKGROUND: Lung cancer is usually diagnosed at an advanced stage, resulting in a poor prognosis. The detection of these lesions at an earlier stage would be a clear benefit to patients. However, it is extremely difficult to detect carcinomatous lesions in the bronchial mucosal sites during a routine bronchoscopy. METHODS: This study employed a novel optical technique, known as narrowband imaging (NBI), which allows noninvasive visualization of the microvascular structure of an organ's surface using reflected light. RESULTS: Narrow band imaging was performed on 10 patients who were radiologically suspicious or had a high risk of lung cancer. The median age of the patients was 57.5 years (range, 44~81 years), and 80% of the patients were male. All lesions showed a microvascular proliferation pattern (dotted, tortuous and abruptly ending vessel) on the magnified NBI. Two lesions were confirmed histologically to be adenocarcinoma and the remaining lesions were squamous cell carcinomas. Two lesions were confirmed histologically to be a carcinoma in situ. CONCLUSION: NBI is a promising and potentially powerful tool for identifying carcinomas at an earlier stage or a central lesion during a routine bronchoscopy examination.