episode_0205

Episode 205. Unidentified Pneumonia (3)

****

The market of Karnak.

Christophe was staring into space. He just liked the high position, but with great power comes great responsibility.

I had no idea that a disaster would strike so suddenly.

Of course, plagues do occur from time to time, but why did it break out in this city while Christophe was mayor?

It’s a good thing the professor came.

A panacea. The very man the central bureaucrats of the empire worshipped as if he were the solution to all their problems. I don’t know if it was really that bad.

still.

When Professor Asterix arrived, I felt like everything was cleared up. As soon as he arrived, he immediately identified the problem and presented a solution.

“Will that solve it?”

The market muttered to itself.

It didn’t seem certain yet. They said it would get better if I took antibiotics? The royal family bought some of the new medicine, though.

I had it stored away and barely used it. What did I do with it? Should I buy a new one?

Still, it’s fortunate that we’ve found some clues to the solution. As the saying goes, there’s no smoke from an unlit chimney, and there’s a reason for its reputation.

Even if Professor Asterix was a conman, it was a huge help in being able to start responding.

Christophe was hesitating because of his indecisive personality. But he secured the spirits, dissolved the medicine, and did something.

Boosting morale?

How do you do that? Maybe you can just give them a raise? Those people are going to be working all night anyway, so you have to give them a raise.

It was tiring work.

What would have happened if the professor hadn’t come?

He seemed a bit sensitive, but many geniuses are like that. When you have a lot in your head, you tend to push aside things like shame and common sense. It can’t be helped.

“Teacher Books.”

“Yes.”

“If I do as the professor says, will it be solved?”

“I think it’s a good starting point. Professor Asterix is also fighting in the field where the plague is spreading, so just wait a little.”

“But what is distilled liquor?”

Christophe’s bookkeeper thought for a moment.

“Oh, I’m talking about clear alcohol. The more you boil the alcohol and collect it again, the more toxic and clear it becomes.”

“Really? Why do you need that?”

The bookkeeper sighed, turning his head slightly to the side so that the mayor could not see him, as if he was used to it. Then he opened his mouth again.

“I told you earlier. Healers use it for cleaning and disinfecting, but they use a lot of it because they’re afraid of the plague.”

“I see. Is there Cheongju in the castle?”

“Yes.”

“Okay, I’ll share it all.”

Christophe stood up. At last, there was something he could do himself.

“Let’s go.”

The market clerk walked forward. It was all right. After all, other people were doing the important work.

****

“Will it happen?”

Hedwig looked at the healer’s bed with a worried expression. Well, I don’t know if her expression was worried.

The mask was covering his face.

“He still seems like he’ll survive. When do you think penicillin will arrive?”

“They said it would be ready within a few hours.”

How many hours?

It would be better not to rush. This isn’t the modern era. Since most of the work is done by hand, nothing is fast.

“It doesn’t seem like he’s going to die right away. He’s getting IVs, and his blood pressure and breathing rate have already returned to normal ranges.”

I checked on the patient in the hospital bed again. I hoped his temperature would go down a bit since I had given him antibiotics and IVs.

The temperature hasn’t dropped yet.

I think the cough has subsided a bit.

“I see. I never thought about the breathing rate.”

“In cases of systemic infection, respiratory rate is important to consider. It is also the easiest number to determine.”

Hedwig nodded again.

“I’m sorry. I learn a lot every time.”

“No.”

The medicine was prescribed to a large extent.

I walked around the ward checking on the patients. There must be some who are critically ill but still able to be saved.

There will definitely be one.

The temple was bustling with activity. The patients were groaning, and

“Professor, would you please look at this patient?”

“Yes.”

A voice was heard from one side of the ward. I ran to where the priests of the temple had called me.

****

I think I know why you called.

He was a young-looking patient. He looked like a student, and his medical records said he was a twenty-year-old male. He was too young to die.

I feel like I’m going to die if I leave it like this.

I held a handkerchief soaked in alcohol and wiped the patient’s bed. The patient groaned, and I poked his back.

“Wake up. Go to sleep at night.”

“Yes?”

“You bled. If you sleep with blood on you, you might not be able to wake up. Just sit there until the sun sets.”

The patient shook his head while lying down, but I supported his back with my hand and made him sit up.

“It’s okay… … .”

“Already half dead, what.”

The patient began coughing as soon as he sat down.

“It hurts more when I sit down.”

“That’s because it doesn’t hurt after you die.”

The patient sat up slowly, groaning as if he had just woken up from a night of drinking.

I waited a while. I wanted to take my time, ask her questions, connect her to an IV, and prescribe some medicine, but I didn’t have time for that.

I placed a few antibiotic pills on the patient’s medicine tray, along with a glass of water.

“Eat this.”

“Okay, I understand.”

The patient swallowed the medicine hastily.

I took a quick look at the medical records hanging next to the patient’s bed. I don’t usually do this, but I guess I have no choice because I’m so busy.

The name is Talo.

The only one in the family infected and currently in quarantine.

“Are you the only one who is sick?”

“Yes. So- Coke.”

“Speak slowly.”

“My family can’t come near the temple. They might catch the plague.”

“That’s true.”

“Everyone was worried that I might die alone, but I’m here- Kolok. I can survive here, right?”

I nodded.

“You can survive if you take your medicine properly. I just met the mayor here, and he said he was bringing a lot of medicine and supplies.”

The patient squinted his eyes.

This is another reason why infectious diseases are particularly dangerous. Many patients die alone, isolated, without being able to see their families.

There are people who just want to meet each other even if it means getting sick. It’s a tragic thing.

“Really?”

“Yeah.”

I injected antibiotics into the patient.

It’s a penicillin injection.

For now, we should consider it a penicillin-susceptible strain. It may take several decades before we can move on to the next step.

That doesn’t mean we don’t use penicillin and similar drugs in modern times. We weren’t that worried about resistant strains.

“When can I go out?”

“I don’t know. It will pass soon.”

I thought the plague would subside when spring came. The problem is that people are dying now.

****

What we need now is a patient classification system.

In modern hospitals, patients are classified in great detail, with disease codes, severity, and test results, but what I am thinking of now is a much simpler classification. Something more practical.

Three types of handkerchiefs.

Red, yellow, green.

Hedwig looked at me.

“What are you going to use this for?”

“Follow me. We will now classify the patients. Red is a severe patient who could die within a few days, yellow is an ambiguous patient, and green is a patient who is unlikely to die.”

“Aha.”

It is a patient classification system.

In practical terms, it is a process necessary for efficient allocation of medical resources. We need to know which patients need more care.

“Patients. Please sit down as much as possible! You will be able to breathe better if you sit down!”

I shouted into the ward, and the patients who heard me started to get up one by one.

We walked around, tying traffic light colored handkerchiefs to the patients’ bedsides. We looked at each medical record placed next to the bedside.

Blood pressure, body temperature, pulse, and visible respiration rate.

Patients with signs of vomiting are always red. Patients who are sitting are green. Patients who are lying down after listening to me are yellow.

“Why didn’t I think of this?”

“What?”

“Just. I thought I should focus on the red handkerchief first, so I thought it would be worth a try. Why did I think about categorizing it… … .”

“Actually. The important thing is not to solve the problem. The important thing is to break the problem down into its components and solve them one by one.”

“Aha.”

This time too.

The plague is a huge problem, but the confusion over who to treat first can be solved with something as simple as a handkerchief.

“Red doesn’t mean dead, right?”

“That’s not it. It just means that more management is needed. I don’t think it’s at the stage where we can find and determine who will die yet.”

“Thank goodness. I was worried that they would take it as giving up, but I told the patients that part too-”

Hedwig stopped talking. She slowly turned her head while still wearing her mask. I flinched in a creepy feeling.

“Why are you like that?”

I can’t see his face because he’s wearing a mask, so I don’t know what’s going on. But judging from his gestures, it seems like it’s a very serious situation-

“My nose is bleeding… … .”

What the hell.