Seroepidemiologic Survey of Crimean-Congo Hemorrhagic Fever Virus in Logging Communities, Myanmar.

Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever virus (CCHFV) is endemic in Asia, infecting many animal hosts, but CCHFV has not been reported in Myanmar. We conducted a seroepidemiologic survey of logging communities in Myanmar and found CCHFV exposure was common (9.8%) and exposure to wild animal blood and body fluids was associated with seropositivity.

Exposure to diverse sarbecoviruses indicates frequent zoonotic spillover in human communities interacting with wildlife.

BACKGROUND: Sarbecoviruses are a subgenus of Coronaviridae that mostly infect bats with known potential to infect humans (SARS-CoV and SARS-CoV-2). Populations in Southeast Asia, where these viruses are most likely to emerge, have been undersurveyed to date. METHODS: We surveyed communities engaged in extractive industries and bat guano harvesting from rural areas in Myanmar. Participants were screened for exposure to sarbecoviruses, and their interactions with wildlife were evaluated to determine the factors associated with exposure to sarbecoviruses. RESULTS: Of 693 people screened between July 2017 and February 2020, 12.1% were seropositive for sarbecoviruses. Individuals were significantly more likely to have been exposed to sarbecoviruses if their main livelihood involved working in extractive industries (logging, hunting, or harvesting of forest products; odds ratio [OR] = 2.71, P = 0.019) or had been hunting/slaughtering bats (OR = 6.09, P = 0.020). Exposure to a range of bat and pangolin sarbecoviruses was identified. CONCLUSION: Exposure to diverse sarbecoviruses among high-risk human communities provides epidemiologic and immunologic evidence that zoonotic spillover is occurring. These findings inform risk mitigation efforts needed to decrease disease transmission at the bat-human interface, as well as future surveillance efforts warranted to monitor isolated populations for viruses with pandemic potential.

Surgical Treatment of Intracranial Anterior Ethmoidal Aneurysm: Case Report, Literature Review, and Surgical Video.

BACKGROUND: Anterior ethmoid aneurysms are rare with 5 cases of intracranial rupture and 3 cases of life-threatening epistaxis described in recent literature. We present a case of an intracranial ruptured anterior ethmoid aneurysm treated surgically with a favorable outcome. CASE DESCRIPTION: A 64-year-old male presenting with a headache was found to have a right frontal intracranial hemorrhage with an associated 1.5 cm length × 1.8 cm maximal width anterior ethmoidal artery aneurysm. No definitive etiology of the aneurysm was identified. The aneurysm was treated using a bifrontal craniotomy with interhemispheric microdissection, clip ligation, and resection of the aneurysm dome for pathologic analysis, which ruled out a mycotic etiology. He recovered uneventfully and returned to work with no identifiable neurologic deficit. CONCLUSIONS: Consistent with prior reports, an intracranial, anterior ethmoidal artery aneurysm can occur in isolation without an associated vascular malformation. On the basis of a literature review and this case, surgical ligation is considered effective and possibly superior over endovascular treatment due to the risk of injury to the orbital vascular supply with transarterial treatment.

Less is more: a project to reduce the number of PIMs (potentially inappropriate medications) on an elderly care ward.

Potentially inappropriate prescribing in healthcare of the elderly (HCE) is associated with avoidable adverse drug events (ADEs).1(,)2 A recent set of prescribing criteria has been designed and validated, called "Screening Tool of Older Persons' Prescriptions" (STOPP), to rationalise prescribing in hospitalised patients on HCE wards.1(,)3 The aim of this quality improvement project was to identify how many potentially inappropriate medications (PIMs) were prescribed on these wards, and remove them. This was executed by implementing a ward round checklist, which incorporated STOPP criteria, for the twice weekly, consultant led ward rounds. This quality improvement project was carried out over four months. In a pilot study, we identified eight inappropriate medical prescriptions among 148 medications (5.4% ) prescribed on one ward. After applying a checklist for a structured ward round, we reviewed the medications prescribed on that ward, and found 10 PIMs out of 192 (5.2% ). Utilising the increasingly recognised "plan, do, study, act" (PDSA) cycle,4 we implemented departmental teaching and meetings with other members of the multidisciplinary team, which raised awareness of PIMs among junior doctors, as well as involving our pharmacists in drug chart screening. During this process we continued with a further six cycles on a bi-weekly basis, and saw a gradual decrease in PIM to 1.5%. In conclusion, a structured ward round, facilitated by a checklist that included review of drug charts based on STOPP criteria, demonstrated a considerable reduction of PIMs. It would be interesting to apply this quality improvement project to non-HCE wards, including general surgical wards or adult psychiatry wards, as a means of not only reducing the effects of ADEs, but also the expenditure associated with unnecessary drug prescriptions, and the costs associated with additional care arising from associated ADEs.