Chapter 68 Epidemic Outbreak

At Chaoyang Vegetable Market, I spent four yuan and seventy cents to buy an old hen weighing more than three pounds.

In the summer, because of laying eggs, old hens now cost 1.5 yuan per pound, which is 10 cents more expensive than in winter.

As for why we have to go to such a far place as Chaoyang Vegetable Market, there is actually no other way. Since the beginning of the year, the country has fully implemented public-private partnerships, and private vendors in the city have basically ceased to exist.

I hurriedly rode my bike back to Yuer Hutong and arrived home just before it started raining.

In the living room, He Shengnan was sitting on a chair. Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo were sitting in front of her, seriously discussing whether the baby in her belly was a boy or a girl.

"Mom, I've bought the old hen. Where's my dad?"

Not seeing Wang Hao, Wang Mengde asked curiously.

"Your father went to the next yard. Old Li's child suddenly had a high fever, so he just came over to ask him to take a look." Ran Xiaomei took the old hen in his hand, holding a kitchen knife in the other hand, and said casually.

When he heard that his father had gone to see a doctor, Wang Mengde didn't say anything else. He wiped the sweat from his face, went back to the living room and sat next to He Shengnan, fanning himself with a palm-leaf fan in one hand and holding a teacup in the other, taking a sip of herbal tea from time to time.

At noon, just before dinner, Wang Hao came back with a worried look on his face.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Wang Mengde saw him like this and asked quickly.

"Hey, the child of Mr. Li's family next door suddenly developed a high fever, accompanied by headache, vomiting, and drowsiness. His limbs also had cramps just now." Wang Hao rubbed his forehead and said slowly.

"Ah, could this be Japanese encephalitis?" Wang Mengde's face changed immediately when he heard his words.

Japanese encephalitis is epidemic encephalitis B. Two-thirds of patients are children under the age of ten. If the disease is not treated in time, it can be life-threatening. In this era, the mortality rate is as high as 20%.

Moreover, Japanese encephalitis is transmitted by mosquitoes, making it difficult to prevent.

"It's Japanese encephalitis. A few days ago, I heard that the Children's Hospital and the Infectious Disease Hospital had received a number of children with symptoms suspected of Japanese encephalitis. I didn't expect it to be true.

This disease broke out in Shijiazhuang two years ago. I followed the medical team from Beijing to Shijiazhuang for support, so I have a deep impression of this disease and will not make a mistake.

At that time, there were a lot of patients and the mortality rate was high. Fortunately, Mr. Guo Keming, a local Chinese medicine expert, led us to use Baihu Decoction, Qingwen Baidu Decoction and other treatment methods, which achieved very good results. "

Wang Hao sat on a chair and said as he prepared to eat.

"Yes, Baihu Decoction is pungent and cool, expelling pathogens, clearing qi and relieving heat. It hits the root of the disease and is a good way to treat Japanese encephalitis."

Wang Mengde thought for a moment, then nodded.

Baihu Decoction first appeared in "Treatise on Febrile Diseases" written by Zhang Zhongjing. It is made of four Chinese medicinal herbs: gypsum, Anemarrhena asphodeloides, rice, and roasted licorice.

As for why it is called Baihu Decoction, there is a reason for it. The White Tiger belongs to the west in the hexagram, and the west represents autumn and sunset. Sunset refers to the time when a person's fever stops and the yang energy has receded. Therefore, when the White Tiger appears, the high temperature will subside.

"Well, I just prescribed Baihu Tang for Old Li's child. The condition should be under control soon."

After dinner, they played for a while. Seeing that Wang Yuanchao and Wang Weiguo were a little depressed, Wang Mengde said, "Yuanchao, Weiguo, let's go take a nap."

As he said this, he reached out to hold their hands.

As soon as their hands touched, his heart skipped a beat and he thought, oh no, my two younger brothers might have also developed a high fever.

As he was thinking, his hands kept moving. He touched the heads of the two people one by one and found that they were very hot.

Wang Hao also noticed it and hurried over to carry the two children to bed. After a while, Wang Yuanchao began to shout about his severe headache, and Wang Weiguo also began to vomit and was obviously irritable.

This is Japanese encephalitis. "Meng De, you stay home and take care of them. I'll go to Lao Li's house next door and borrow two prescriptions to use first."

Seeing the symptoms of his two sons, Wang Hao recognized it as Japanese encephalitis at a glance. He gave an order and hurried to the next yard.

Not long after, he came back with two packets of medicine wrapped in yellow paper.

Ran Xiaomei had already borrowed the medicine pot and skillfully added water to boil the medicine.

After the two children drank the medicine, Ran Xiaomei, Wang Mengde and He Shengnan all breathed a sigh of relief, but Wang Hao frowned, looking puzzled.

"Dad, what's wrong?" Wang Mengde asked in a low voice, avoiding his mother and daughter-in-law.

"I just went to Old Li's house to borrow some medicine. His kid's symptoms haven't improved. It's strange. Logically, the medicine should have taken effect after so long."

Wang Hao also said in a low voice.

"Maybe they didn't prepare the medicine properly." Wang Mengde said uncertainly.

"It's hard to say. Let's see how your two brothers are doing after taking the medicine."

An hour later, seeing that the fever of the two younger brothers showed no signs of going down and they also developed new symptoms of diarrhea, it seemed that their condition had worsened. Wang Mengde and Wang Hao's faces turned ugly.

At this moment, a young man's voice came from outside the door: "Is Doctor Wang home?"

"Xiao Han, why are you here?" Wang Hao asked hurriedly when he saw that it was Xiao Han from the hospital director's office.

"Doctor Wang, the dean asked me to come to the Children's Hospital for a consultation. There has been an epidemic of Japanese encephalitis in Beijing in the past few days. The prescriptions used in Shijiazhuang for treatment in the past two years have not worked. Now the state has set up a working group and selected a group of Chinese and Western medicine experts for a consultation."

Xiao Han said quickly.

"Okay, let me change my shoes." Wang Hao quickly started to change into a pair of rain boots before going out. While changing, he asked curiously, "By the way, I'm not an expert either, why are you looking for me?"

"Doctor Wang, didn't you go to Shijiazhuang to provide support two years ago? You must have a deep understanding of this disease, so your superiors have asked you to go with them." Xiao Han explained.

He was in the dean's office and knew a lot of information that others didn't know.

After changing into rain boots and taking an umbrella, Wang Hao looked back at his eldest son.

"Dad, don't worry. I'm at home." Wang Mengde knew that his father was definitely going out, so he spoke quickly.

After Wang Hao left, Wang Mengde sat in the living room, squinting his eyes, his brain working rapidly. From time to time, he went into the space to check the medical knowledge from his previous life, trying to find out why Baihu Decoction was ineffective.

"Meng De, wipe the sweat off your face." Seeing that he was sweating a lot, He Shengnan wiped the sweat off his face with a wet towel with a distressed look on her face:

"The weather this year is really abnormal. In previous years, there wasn't so much rain in August. You said it would rain, and it rained. The weather is not cool, and I sweated just by sitting still."

He Shengnan's words gave Wang Mengde a flash of inspiration. He instantly grasped this hint of inspiration and finally figured out the reason why Baihu Decoction had no effect.

"Haha, Shengnan, you are really my lucky star. Yes, that's right, it's the rain." He laughed loudly, and then said to He Shengnan:

"I'm going to the hospital to get some medicine now."

Having said that, he ran out quickly in the rain.

(End of this chapter)