episode_0115

Episode 115. Euthanasia (1)

****

Boom, bang, bang!

Why is there such a fuss in the morning? I raised my head at the sound of thumping and looked at the door. It looks like another emergency patient has come into the ward.

“Come in.”

bang!

I naturally assumed it would be Istina, but someone other than Istina came into the lab. I looked at the healer in white robes.

“Miss Hedwig?”

I had a feeling that something annoying was going to happen again. I looked at Hedwig.

It looked quite urgent. Is there a plague going on? I hope it’s not dangerous.

“What’s going on?”

“Black Death!”

“It was like that last time too.”

“This time it’s real. The limbs of the dying people are turning black, skin lesions are appearing, and people are dying in large numbers.”

I nodded.

“That definitely looks like the Black Death.”

“Will you come?”

Hedwig frowned.

“I have to go. When are you leaving?”

“Oh, I have to go now. It would be a big deal if the Black Death spreads to the next village.”

If you go, you should first check if it’s the Black Death. Last time, they said it was the Black Death, so I ran over, but when I actually got there, it wasn’t the Black Death, right?

I scratched my head.

But it’s something I can’t not go to, since people are dying. Whether it’s the Black Death or not, I have to go and try to solve it as best I can.

“Let’s go quickly.”

Time is of the essence.

Pneumonic plague can kill someone in a day, if it hasn’t been that long since a case was reported…

We might be able to resolve this before the plague spreads in earnest. So, Hedwig is right when she says we need to leave right now.

“I’ll pack my bags. Let’s leave as soon as possible.”

I racked my brain while organizing my bag.

The Black Death is a treatable disease. However, we cannot be sure that there is simply a cure. It is not that easy.

Isn’t that the disease that killed half of Europe?

In the case of pneumonic plague, there are many cases where death occurs within just a day. Other forms of the plague also commonly cause death within a few days.

The period between the onset of symptoms in a patient and the occurrence of irreversible damage may be only a few hours.

The fact that it caught the government’s attention meant that there were quite a few patients. It seemed possible that the situation was serious enough to be irreversible.

I hope that’s not the case.

****

Let’s skip the moving process. We arrived in Winia on a Wyvern. Winia is said to be a city with a population of about 4,000.

We landed in front of Winia’s Citadel.

I, Istina, and Hedwig looked around. From above, it looked like an ordinary city. It wasn’t particularly dirty.

First of all, since it was an inland city, it seemed unlikely that outsiders or sailors would have brought the disease. If it was really the Black Death, where did it come from?

anyway.

As soon as I got off the Wyvern, I sanitized my hands and put on gloves and a plague doctor mask. Hedwig and Istinae also wore plague doctor clothes.

Hedwig ran ahead. Two soldiers were sitting next to the Citadel’s gate. As we approached, they stood up.

“What happened- Ah. You’re a plague doctor.”

“We are healers from the royal family. Time is of the essence, so I would like you to summon the Lord of Winia immediately.”

The soldiers of the Citadel opened the door.

As usual, we followed Hedwig into the city’s citadel. It was a small building compared to the citadels in other cities.

Hedwig moved hurriedly deep into the castle. After wandering around for a while, we were soon able to meet the officials of Winia Castle.

****

I don’t have a single minute to waste. As soon as I entered the conference room, I slammed the desk down.

“Where are you, my lord?”

“Oh, you work downtown.”

The officials who had been muttering something before we came in stepped back a little. Yes, I was wearing a black plague doctor’s gown and a mask. I might look a little scary.

Hmm. I sat down on a chair to look like a person. I couldn’t see the patient right away, so I took off my mask.

“I am Asterix, a professor at the Academy and former chief healer of the Imperial Court. I came running because they said there was a plague patient.”

The officials of Winia Castle exchanged anxious glances. Only one of them clapped and stopped immediately. I continued speaking.

“Let’s get that straight first. Is it true that people’s limbs turned black, their skin developed phlegmon-like lesions, and they died?”

The people gathered nodded.

“There is great chaos in the city. Many people remember or have heard stories about how terrible the Black Death was.”

“Are you sure it’s the Black Death?”

“Yes. The healers in the city have verified it.”

For now, let’s assume it is the Black Death.

“The plague is usually contracted in two ways: through insect bites or by contact with a patient with pneumonic plague.”

Everyone seemed to be hearing this for the first time.

Istina and Hedwig also looked at me as if they were wondering what I was talking about. The exact route of transmission of the Black Death was only discovered in modern times, so it was not surprising that these people did not know.

“Really?”

“Yes.”

There are only two ways to get the plague: being bitten by an insect infected with the Black Death bacterium, or coming into contact with someone with pneumonic plague. If only we had known this, half of Europe would not have died.

Of course, this was not a conclusion that people who did not know about germs could have reached. It could be caused by insect bites or respiratory transmission.

To medieval people who didn’t know much about germs, the Black Death would have seemed like a disease that just came out of nowhere. Fleas and bedbugs bite people when they sleep, so it’s hard to think of them as a cause.

This was indeed the case. Medieval people had no idea how the Black Death spread, and blamed it on things like the stench or the curse of God.

“How do you know that, Professor?”

“I’ve researched it.”

I ignored it and continued explaining.

“There is no special way to avoid insects, but you should avoid fleas and bedbugs as much as possible. Pneumonic plague can be prevented to a large extent by covering your mouth with a cloth or something similar.”

The problem needs to be structured in order to find a solution. As soon as the topic was brought up, the plague transformed from an unintelligible curse into a solvable problem in the bureaucrats’ minds. Their expressions also changed.

The solution is simple, if simple at all. Kill the bedbugs and fleas, and cover your mouth and nose.

“The Black Death is transmitted through insects and coughing. The Black Death’s symptoms are divided into three types.”

The conference room was deathly quiet.

“The first is the bubonic plague, which is caused by insect bites. It causes skin lesions and kills people within a few days.”

Bubonic plague is a disease that causes swollen lymph nodes, but I don’t really know what bubonic plague is.

“The second is the septicemic plague. It is a disease that occurs when the plague bacteria circulates in the blood, and is a more serious disease than the phlegmonous plague.”

Istina scribbled something in her notebook.

“The third is pneumonic plague. This is a disease that occurs when you come into contact with someone who has pneumonic plague, or when septicemic plague becomes severe.”

The pneumonic plague could be said to be the final evolution of the Black Death, one that no longer needs fleas.

I finished explaining.

Several eyes were focused on me.

“Is that all?”

“We need to isolate and treat the sick person. Is isolation being done?”

A man on one side of the conference room looked at me and nodded.

“Senior Secretary, Ben.”

“Yes. Please explain.”

“Isolation is in place. Most patients are in isolation at home, and some are receiving treatment at the temple.”

Treatment at the temple… … .

It might be better not to do it. It might be an opportunity for the plague to spread widely. Let’s first explain the strategy and aim to move everyone who is being treated at the temple to their homes.

“How many quarantined households are there?”

“There are ten.”

Oh my, there are a lot.

I sighed. There might come a moment when I have to choose who will live and who will die. It seemed likely that there would be little time or direction.

“Who is being treated at the temple?”

“I don’t know.”

Why don’t you know that? I sighed inwardly. Shouldn’t you understand that much?

“You make a rag to cover your mouth, and find a way to kill the bedbugs. I will treat the temple patients.”

The officials nodded and shuffled through the papers. I looked at Istina.

“Istina. Follow me to the temple.”

****

To be honest, I’ve never personally seen a plague patient. That’s to be expected.

What chance would there be of seeing a plague patient in Korea? Although I once met a doctor who treated a plague patient in Mongolia.

A disease I’ve only seen in textbooks.

Anyway, there’s one thing you absolutely must know. Even if it’s the Black Death, if you don’t miss the right time to treat it, it can be treated with antibiotics.

“Still, it’s fortunate that there is a separate ward for the Black Death patients… … . If they had been mixed in with other patients, something would have happened. They would all have died.”

Istina nodded.

I opened the door to the plague ward.

The temple’s plague ward was thick with the smell of strange flowers and incense. It could be felt even through the mask.

‘why……?’