Rebirth 1977 Great Era

Chapter 1334 Joint Consultation, Epidemic Prevention Team Seeks Help from Traditional Chinese Medicine (Bonus Chapter for Monthly Tickets)
The man glanced at the dialect and, seeing that it was a young man, recalled for a moment before saying, "She's almost seven months pregnant! Yesterday she said her throat hurt, which we thought was just a cold, but then she developed a fever last night and small red spots appeared on her body. This morning she said her stomach hurt badly and she vomited twice. The village doctor gave her fever reducers, but they didn't work!"

When faced with such a situation, most people's ability to express themselves is diminished, and this man was no exception. However, they understood the general situation through dialect.

Yue Meizhong then said to the man:
"Don't panic. Tell us first how far your village is from here, and whether anyone else in the village besides her has a fever and rash?"

"It's not far, just two or three miles away. I only know Xiulan; I don't have time to care about the others!"

"Doctor, please come with me to take a look. She's pregnant. If anything happens to her, the family will be ruined!"

The commotion alerted the students nearby, who all peered out of the windows. Fang Yan and the others understood the urgency of the situation: the pregnant woman had contracted scarlet fever and was experiencing a high fever, which could lead to miscarriage, premature birth, or even affect fetal development. The situation needed immediate attention.

Although they are in quarantine and are not allowed to go out at any time according to regulations, human lives are at stake, and we cannot sit idly by.

"Take the medicine and let's have a few people go and take a look," Fang Yan said decisively to the group.

Wang Yuchuan said:
"Okay, I'll go with you."

“I’ll come along too!” Professor Yue Meizhong said.

He's almost eighty now, and his legs can't compare to a young man's, but since this man was the first to approach him, he'll definitely go.

“Master, let me go too!” At this moment, Li Chunsheng, the class's academic representative, said to Yue Meizhong. Only then did everyone remember that this was Yue Meizhong's personal disciple.

"We need two more girls," Fang Yan reminded them.

"Brother Fang, it's me!" Li Hui called out to Fang Yan from upstairs.

Then Lin Xueling, Wang Yuying, and other girls in the class also responded.

Fang Yan waved to Li Hui and Lin Xueling, inviting the two who had spoken first to come over.

Although Fang Yan isn't a class representative, in this kind of situation, everyone knows who to listen to.

The epidemic prevention team didn't stop Fang Yan and his group. Instead, they sent someone to accompany them. Then, the group loaded the herbs, got on a truck, and drove out of the factory area, heading towards the nearby village.

Fortunately, Lao Hu repaired all the roads here, so they didn't have to walk the whole way. When the car arrived at the edge of the village, the roads inside the village were no longer accessible, so everyone got out of the car and walked. The men led the way, the young people carried the things, and the old professors followed behind, trudging along.

The group soon arrived at a courtyard in a village.

The man strode forward and pushed open the wooden door; the courtyard was quiet.

"She's in that room. Our village doctor told me to lock her in there, to prevent her from infecting others," the man said, pointing to a room on the west side.

Then everyone followed him and lifted the old cotton curtain hanging at the door. A hot current mixed with the smell of sweat, medicine and a faint fishy smell rushed out. The room was dimly lit and there were no electric lights.

A dim, yellowish light shone through a glass tile roof. After their eyes adjusted, they could see a young woman lying on the earthen bed. Her face was flushed, her lips were chapped and peeling, a damp towel was on her forehead, and she was curled up with a furrowed brow, her hands tightly clutching her stomach.

Three women were sitting by the kang (a heated brick bed). When they saw a group of people come in, they all stood up.

"The doctor is here!" the man said to them.

Without delay, everyone immediately began a consultation. Fang Yan followed Wang Yuchuan and Yue Meizhong to the bedside. He first touched the pregnant woman's forehead to confirm that she still had a fever. He then lifted her sleeve, took out the flashlight he had brought with him, and shone it on her. Everyone saw that the patient's arm was covered with fine scarlet rashes that would temporarily fade when pressed. These were the typical "chicken skin rash" of scarlet fever.

"Can you hear me?" Yue Meizhong asked the patient.

The woman opened her eyes with difficulty, her gaze unfocused. She weakly uttered a soft "hmm," and before she could speak, she began to cough violently, her body trembling and her stomach contracting, causing her to groan in pain.

"Don't cough hard, take a slow breath." Wang Yuchuan quickly supported her shoulders and helped her turn slightly to the side. He then asked, "Besides the stomach pain and vomiting, have you felt palpitations or chest tightness? How is the baby's movement compared to usual?"

The woman gasped for breath for a while before whispering, "...My heart is pounding, the baby...the baby isn't moving as much as usual..."

These words immediately made the hearts of those around them clench.

"Let's take each other's pulses together," Yue Meizhong said, squatting down as she spoke to Fang Yan.

He was taking the woman's pulse by placing his fingers on her left wrist.

Seeing this, Fang Yan came to the right and began to take the pulse.

As soon as I put my finger on it, I noticed that the pulse was floating and restless, easily felt with light pressure, but it also had a somewhat weak and scattered quality. This is a typical "floating and rapid pulse". However, there was a slight sluggishness hidden in the floating and rapid pulse, especially between the Guan and Chi pulses, where the pulse was particularly weak.

As he counted the pulse, he changed the angle and increased the pressure of his fingers. Beneath the restless, floating pulse was an undeniable weakness, as if heat was rising on the outside while the body's vital energy had been largely depleted.

About two minutes later, Fang Yan withdrew his hand, looked at Yue Meizhong who was getting up, and spoke first:
“Old Yue, when I felt her pulse on the right side, it was floating and rapid but weak. The floating and rapid pulse at the cun position was the most prominent, indicating that the heat evil had invaded the exterior and attacked the throat, which matches her symptoms of sore throat and rash. However, the guan and chi pulses were severely weak, especially the chi pulse, which was light and shallow with a sense of sluggishness. I’m afraid that the heat evil has already depleted the spleen yin, which has also affected the fetal qi, which is why the fetal movement has decreased and the lower abdomen is painful.”

Yue Meizhong withdrew her hand at this time: "It is consistent with the pulse on my left side. The pulse on the left cun position is floating, rapid and slippery. Slippery is the normal characteristic of a pregnant pulse, but the floating and rapid state overshadows the slippery state, indicating that the heat is not shallow; the guan position is weak and soft, and the chi position is deep, weak and powerless. Deep indicates internal, and weak indicates qi deficiency. It can be seen that it is not just external heat, but the internal qi can no longer withstand it. The signs of the fetus being deprived of nourishment are very obvious."

He paused and added:

"Although her pulse was fast, it was not as strong and powerful as that of a patient with excess heat. Instead, it was 'rapid but weak,' which is a manifestation of a mixture of 'deficient heat' and 'excess pathogenic factors.' The medication must be used with extra care, so as not to let the heat pathogenic factors go unpunished, nor to damage the body's vital energy and the fetal energy."

As soon as the two finished speaking, Professor Wang Yuchuan said:

“The floating pulse corresponds to the wind-heat epidemic toxin attacking the exterior of scarlet fever, which is the root of the disease; while the weak pulse and the deep and weak pulse at the cun position are problems with the pregnant woman’s own constitution. Seven months of pregnancy already consumes qi and blood, and the spleen and kidney functions are relatively weak. When the heat evil comes, it will further consume qi and blood, making the already insufficient qi and blood even more depleted.”

"The spleen governs transformation and transportation. When the spleen yin is depleted, it cannot transform and transport food and water to nourish the fetus, so she will vomit and have no appetite. The kidney governs the uterus. A weak pulse at the cun position indicates insufficient kidney qi, which leads to a loss of fetal qi and abdominal pain and decreased fetal movement. This disease appears to be caused by external pathogenic factors, but in reality, it is due to 'deficiency of both spleen and kidney and instability of the fetus.' If we only clear the heat without tonifying the deficiency, the heat may not be completely cleared, and the fetal qi will collapse first. If we only tonify the deficiency without clearing the heat, the heat will penetrate inward, which may lead to miscarriage or premature birth."

Fang Yan picked up the conversation and said:

"Therefore, the prescription must balance both clearing heat and relieving rashes, and tonifying qi and calming the fetus. For clearing heat, use light and dispersing herbs like honeysuckle and forsythia, not bitter and cold herbs like scutellaria and coptis that could harm the stomach; for calming the fetus, use eucommia and mulberry mistletoe to strengthen the kidneys, and add codonopsis and atractylodes to tonify the spleen qi and strengthen the foundation of qi and blood. In addition, since she has dry lips and vomiting, add reed rhizome and ophiopogon to generate fluids and quench thirst, preventing excessive loss of body fluids." Yue Meizhong immediately nodded in agreement, and Wang Yuchuan also said:

"Yes, that makes sense. I think we should formulate the prescription according to this idea. The dosage must be carefully controlled. The heat-clearing medicine should be slightly stronger to suppress the evil, while the tonifying medicine should be mild. It is better to use less than to over-tonify and cause stagnation."

Without hesitation, he began writing down the recipe.

After writing it down, Fang Yan handed the prescription to the two professors for review.

Wang Yuchuan took the prescription, his gaze quickly sweeping over the dosage of each ingredient, lingering particularly on the proportions of heat-clearing and tonifying herbs. He pondered for a moment, then spoke:
"I can see it."

After reading it, Yue Meizhong said:
“The amount of Ophiopogon japonicus can be increased. She is vomiting severely and has lost a lot of body fluids. 10g of Ophiopogon japonicus is a little insufficient. Adding 12g will have a better effect of nourishing yin and stopping vomiting. Moreover, Ophiopogon japonicus is mild in nature, so adding 2g will not cause any problems.”

He readily accepted suggestions regarding dialects, and immediately picked up a pen to make changes.

After the changes were made, no one had any objections. Fang Yan immediately started getting the medicine. They had already thought about what medicine they needed when they arrived, and now they had all the medicines they needed.

"Where in your house can I decoct the medicine?" Fang Yan asked the man after picking up the medicine.

The man said:

"Come with me, it's right outside."

Fang Yan and Li Chunsheng went outside, and Li Chunsheng said to Fang Yan:

"Brother Fang, let me do it."

Fang Yan handed him the medicine and said:
"One dose of medicine is decocted twice. The first decoction is decocted for 20 minutes, and the second decoction is decocted for 15 minutes. The two decoctions are mixed together and given to her in three doses."

Li Chunsheng nodded.

Fang Yan then returned to the room, where Wang Yuchuan was already arranging work for Li Hui and Lin Xueling:
"Soak a towel in warm water and wipe her forehead, armpits, and groin. Be gentle and avoid touching her stomach."

Then he took out the honeysuckle and forsythia he had brought, first brewing some with boiling water, and had her sip it in small amounts several times to temporarily reduce her internal heat.

After things were settled here, the epidemic prevention team began disinfecting the yard and asked the family how to find the village officials.

Their epidemic prevention team went to various communes, and even reaching each brigade was difficult enough, let alone each village.

Now they want to call the village officials over to inquire about the situation here.

If the situation here becomes serious, we'll have to call for reinforcements from the city.

"The village secretary's house is the third one up ahead, a red brick courtyard, easy to find! I'll go get him right now!" The woman in the family said, about to run out, but was stopped by the epidemic prevention team staff.
"Don't rush, tell us the general situation first. Who does your Xiulan usually get along with? Do you have any children in your family? Have you been to the neighboring village or commune recently?"

The old lady in the house scratched her head and recalled carefully: "Our Xiulan rarely goes out except when she goes to the fields or stays at home. She went to the commune market to buy cloth just the day before yesterday. Er Ya from the east end of the village went with her. Oh right, the day she came back from the market, she played with Er Ya's child for a while. That child seemed to have mentioned a sore throat the day before yesterday. I don't know if it's better yet."

"How old is Er Ya's child? Where is he now?" the staff member asked.

The old lady responded:

"She's five years old, she should be home right now."

"Let's ask the village officials first! They must have some statistics," Professor Yue Meizhong said.

The old man is getting on in years, but he has participated in the handling of these kinds of public health emergencies more than anyone else, so we should still listen to him.

The comrades from the epidemic prevention team immediately responded:

"Old Yue is right. It's safest to find the village secretary first to get a clear picture of the situation. Otherwise, searching blindly from house to house will waste too much time." He turned to the woman who was about to call for help and instructed her, "When you go to call the village secretary, please stop by Er Ya's house and ask about the child's condition. If he still has a fever or a rash, tell Er Ya not to take the child out. We'll go check on him in a bit."

The women responded and ran out. Only the hissing sound of disinfectant spraying remained in the courtyard. Li Chunsheng had already set up the medicine pot in the kitchen. The flames licked the bottom of the pot, and a faint smell of medicine began to drift into the courtyard.

Fang Yan walked over to the epidemic prevention team and watched them disinfect the pile of miscellaneous items in the corner of the yard. He said, "The sanitation conditions in this village are poor, and scarlet fever is transmitted through droplets. Once there is an asymptomatic carrier, it can easily spread in the village. Children, in particular, have weak immune systems. If they have been in contact with the source of the infection, they are very likely to be infected."

"Don't worry, we will pay extra attention to children when we conduct the screening." The epidemic prevention team member said while pressurizing the sprayer, "When the village secretary comes, we will ask him to list all the people in the village who have had fever and cough in the past half month, and give special attention to families with children and pregnant women. We will split into two groups to conduct door-to-door screening, taking temperatures, checking throats, and looking for rashes. We can't miss anyone."

After a while, footsteps sounded at the courtyard gate. A woman led a middle-aged man in a dark blue Zhongshan suit into the courtyard. The man looked anxious and greeted them as soon as he entered.
"I am Wang Mancang, the village Party secretary. What instructions do you have, leaders from the city?"

"Tell us about your situation first." The comrade from the epidemic prevention team gestured for him to come under the eaves to talk. "Has anyone in the village recently had a fever, sore throat, or rash like Xiulan? Especially those who went to the commune market a few days ago, or who have been in contact with outsiders."

"Yes, it's all written here!" He pulled out a notebook and handed it over.

This is convenient; the epidemic prevention team members immediately picked up their notebooks and started looking at them.

Fang Yan was also present, and noticed that there weren't many records on it.

"Take us to these places first," the epidemic prevention team member said to them.

Then he turned to Fang Yan and the others and said:

"Director Fang, Professor Yue, Professor Wang, we didn't bring any Western medicine. We'll have to ask for your help later."

P.S.: After finishing this chapter, we're even again! Everyone, please vote more! It's a matter of votes being cast immediately.

(End of this chapter)