Literary Master 1983

Chapter 208: Poliomyelitis (III)
Alai and Duanduan celebrated together: "If the little boy crossing the river in Aba had eaten these three candies when he was young, he would have grown up and defended his country!"

At this point, Alai choked up again.

Duanduan asked him, "Alai, why does it have to be made into a sugar pill? I have received vaccines and taken vaccines (oral vaccines) before, and they were not like this."

This really stumped Alai. Not only him, but Li Xiaolin also didn't understand.

In order to answer Duanduan's questions, they asked for help from the comrades in the foundation. Unexpectedly, Professor Gu Fangzhou, who developed the vaccine, happened to be here to give a lecture. Upon learning that Duanduan had raised "80 cents" and bought three sugar pills for donation, Gu Fangzhou came specially to thank Duanduan.

Duanduan is Ba Lao's granddaughter! Professor Gu also understands the ways of the world.

If Ba Lao, a mainstay of the literary world, could write a few articles on "polio", it would definitely attract more attention.

Gu Fangzuo is the deputy director of the Institute of Biology of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. Historically, it was he who led his team to develop the polio vaccine, which has gone through many iterations.

The "sugar pill" is Professor Gu's latest research result. Before this, the vaccine was a liquid vaccine, which was much more expensive than the sugar pill.

After Professor Gu learned Duanduan's question, he remained calm, but did not answer Duanduan immediately. Instead, he quietly told Li Xiaolin and Alai: "Please follow me."

The three of them walked to a more secluded place, and Professor Gu said, "Why don't you use vaccines, but sugar pills? Because children don't want to eat them!"

Li Xiaolin didn't believe it: "Duanduan is already very disobedient. She knows that vaccines are good things. Can't she convince the child to take them?"

Professor Gu smiled bitterly and said, "Polio is a strange disease. It mainly occurs in children aged one or two. These children have no behavioral ability at all. They will not 'be obedient' at all!"

"Parents dripped the original liquid vaccine on steamed buns and food to trick their children, but the children often refused to eat and the vaccine quickly lost its activity. We had no choice but to make it into sugar pills and coat the vaccine with sugar and milk."

So that’s it!
Li Xiaolin immediately shook Gu Fangzhou's hand to thank him. Li Xiaolin suddenly remembered that Duanduan had taken a similar vaccine when she was a child. It turned out that it was a liquid oral polio vaccine, but Duanduan had taken so many vaccines that she forgot it for a while.

Duanduan doesn't need to jump into the lake at all, she already has antibodies.

Alai was very angry: "Why can children in Shanghai use vaccines, but we in Aba can't? If you can send vaccines to Aba, wouldn't we avoid this tragedy?"

Professor Gu apologized to them: "Comrade, it's my incompetence!" He recalled, "Our original vaccine was an active vaccine, which needed to be transported in a cold chain throughout the entire process, with the temperature reaching minus 20 degrees Celsius... When we developed it in the 1960s, this was all we could do at the time."

He bowed deeply, feeling very ashamed.

Li Xiaolin and Alai both understood.

In the past twenty years, not only Aba, but also the vast rural areas with slightly worse conditions have no way to use liquid active vaccines. The cost of this type of vaccine is too high and its use can only be limited to a few large cities with refrigeration conditions.

Professor Gu added, "But now this sugar pill is not so expensive. Not only does it cost only 20 or 30 cents, but it also does not need to be kept at -20 degrees Celsius. It only needs to be refrigerated... We have calculated that in some remote mountainous areas, the sugar pill can be put into an ice bucket and taken within two or three hours. It is still in time." Alai said happily, "Don't wait any longer. This sugar pill is so good. This year, more than 20 million children will be born in the country. They should all be equally free from this disease. In ten years, more than 200 million children will be born. They and their families don't have to worry about it anymore!"

"You are kinder than the Bodhisattva, and your contribution will be passed down through the ages! I will not be able to see the Three Thousand Worlds in this lifetime. I have only seen Aba, but there are so many places I cannot see! Please help them!"

Alai was so happy that he almost fainted from the combination of his previous grief and the current surprise. He could only hold Gu Fangzhou's hand tightly to thank him.

Gu Fangzuo felt embarrassed: because although he developed the vaccine, he was not a billionaire. Just think about how much money it would cost to support 200 million children?

Taking into account some losses, it would be at least two or three hundred million.

Humans have many congenital defects, and polio is just one of them. Once a child gets it, it is of course a misfortune for the family, but before that, there are many more frequent and more likely infectious diseases that need attention.

Only the government can support such an astronomical amount, and it will be gradually covered across the country over a period of more than ten years.

That is to say, within two or three years, this kind of sugar pill cannot be used in rural areas, and within five to ten years, Aba will certainly not have access to it.

Everyone was silent, not knowing how to face it. They had developed something good, but they couldn't use it. Disappointment and shame gathered in the hearts of every adult.

Professor Gu also choked up: "This disease has always received little attention. I understand that our country has so many difficulties! Twenty years ago, when I was researching this vaccine, I didn't have the money to test it, so I used it on my own children..."

what?
Alai and Li Xiaolin were so shocked that they were almost speechless.

Professor Gu raised his head, his face full of tears, and said: "My wife did not blame me, but faced it with me and supported me! Vaccines are very dangerous. They make people produce antibodies after infection. My child was so ignorant, how could he know that his father was so heartless!"

"Our entire team vaccinated their children, and later they were all safe and sound. My colleagues and I cried bitterly at that moment."

Li Xiaolin couldn't help crying when she thought about what she had experienced in the past few days. Professor Gu also spoke frankly:
"In fact, I came to Hangzhou during this period to report to the leaders - I hope they can allocate more funds for our sugar pills. However, I can understand all the considerations of the leaders. I said that there are still many people suffering from diseases! I just try my best!"

"It's difficult! It's really difficult!" Li Xiaolin said. "I told my father about this and asked him to write an article! I'm the editor of Harvest magazine, and I want to write a few novels about this disease..."

"Since we can't allocate more money, we will seek help from the society. We will ask those who have spare money to help us."

"A little kid like Duanduan can donate 80 cents, so aren't there more kind-hearted people out there?"

After these words, the three of them reached a consensus. Suddenly, the Hangzhou meeting was no longer important in their minds. They had touched upon the most essential things about writers.

(End of this chapter)