Chapter 116: Effectiveness and Doubts

Golden autumn October.

It is a harvest season, which is supposed to be a joyful thing.

But at the same time, it is also the peak period of schistosomiasis infection.

Especially when harvesting rice, a large number of people will inevitably be contaminated by the water sources in the fields if there is feces of schistosomiasis patients and snails in the water sources.

Once people come into contact with infected water, it only takes ten seconds for them to be infected.

Because there are so many infected people, the medical staff who come to support have been very busy these days.

In the middle of the night, Wang Mengde, Qian Dayong and Zhu Tao had just finished their work in a village and rushed to the village guesthouse overnight.

This village was hit by six or seven new infections a few days ago. The three of them went there to help this afternoon and were busy until very late.

"In Wenqiao Township, Mengde, over the past ten days, the number of new schistosomiasis patients has increased by more than 6%. Even several medical staff have been accidentally infected. It's really terrible."

Walking on the quiet path, although there was moonlight, Qian Dayong couldn't help but feel a little nervous because he was surrounded by endless mountains and the trees on top were hazy.

So he found a topic to divert his attention.

“Yes, although you have developed several prescriptions that have a good effect on patients with heavy metal poisoning, the toxicity and side effects of “potassium antimony tartrate” are too great.

These days, several people in the village have used this medicine and failed to withstand the side effects. Seeing them die in pain, I really hate myself for not being good at medicine and not being able to relieve their pain. "

Zhu Tao next to him also took over the conversation.

"I think that things are gradually developing in a positive direction." Wang Mengde was holding a flashlight in his hand. When he heard the pessimistic tones of the two people, he expressed a different opinion.

“Although there is no good method to treat schistosomiasis, there has been great progress in the control of snails.

Didn't the newspaper say that in some counties, in order to eliminate snails, several rivers were dried up, and in some areas, more than 200,000 people were mobilized to dig out all the soil containing snails, and the amount of work involved reached several million cubic meters.

Many rural areas have already dug new wells, built new public toilets, installed public drinking water appliances, and set up working groups in every village to carry out vigorous publicity.

According to the current situation, the number of new infections will definitely drop significantly after next year. As long as the snails are eradicated, schistosomiasis will not be able to spread. "

It is still the autumn harvest season. When winter comes, provinces, cities and regions in the south will organize a large number of people to carry out snail eradication operations.

The amount of manpower mobilized and the material resources consumed are beyond the imagination of most people.

"I hope we can find a specific medicine as soon as possible. Just now in the village, there were two children who were only seven or eight years old, but they were already in the late stage of the disease. It was heartbreaking to see them."

Qian Dayong said with emotion.

Thinking of the many children who were still infected, the three of them fell silent for a moment.

After passing through a small forest, a building appeared in front of them. Wang Mengde recognized it as a small local temple.

Usually there is a priest in charge of the temple. If the locals have something to ask for, they will come together to burn incense and worship on the first or fifteenth day of every month.

Passing by the gate of the small temple, the keeper had already gone to bed, so the three of them continued walking forward tiptoeing.

At this moment, Wang Mengde suddenly heard a sound like a kitten crying. He hurriedly stopped and listened carefully.

"Meng De, what's wrong?" Qian Dayong asked curiously when he saw his look.

"Did you hear anything?"

"No?"

"Where is the sound? There are only three of us here. Brother Mengde, don't scare us." Zhu Tao looked around and said with a slightly trembling voice.

I listened carefully again and found that the sound was gone, and I began to wonder if I was hallucinating.

"Maybe I heard it wrong, let's go."

As he said this, he took the lead and walked forward.

But before he had taken a few steps, another sound of crying faintly reached his ears. This time, Wang Mengde concluded that he was not mistaken, there was indeed crying.

"Brother Dayong, Taozi, I heard the sound again, it seems to be the voice of a child, let's go over and take a look."

"Meng De, it's out in the middle of nowhere, and it's late at night. There won't be any children there. Let's go back to the guesthouse and get some rest. We still have to go to Chitang Village to check on the patients tomorrow."

When Qian Dayong heard him say there was a child crying, he got goose bumps all over his body.

There is only a small temple here and no villages within two or three miles. How could there be children here?

If it weren't for the country's vigorous propaganda to break feudal superstitions after liberation, he would have run away long ago.

But even if he didn't run away, his heart was still beating fast.

"Yes, Brother Mengde, you must be tired. Let's go quickly." Zhu Tao on the side also quickly persuaded in a trembling voice.

"You heard it right, follow me."

After Wang Mengde finished speaking, he walked towards the front left.

Behind them, two people looked at each other helplessly. It was so late now and the sounds of animals could be heard from time to time. It would not be a good idea for the three of them to separate again, so they had to follow.

After walking about twenty or thirty meters, I saw a baby wrapped in a piece of tattered clothes lying in the grass.

Under the moonlight, the baby saw Wang Mengde's figure, looked at him straight in his eyes, then grinned and actually laughed.

He bent down and carefully picked up the baby, then turned around to meet Qian Dayong and Zhu Tao.

"Brother Dayong, Taozi, look, there really is a child here."

"Ah? Why is there a child here?" Both of them looked confused.

"Never mind, let's take the baby back first." As he said that, Wang Mengde took the lead and came to the path, continuing to walk towards the village guesthouse.

Ten minutes later, when the three men arrived at the guesthouse, Hu Danian was sitting at the door and dozing off. When he saw them coming back, he quickly stood up and said:
"Oh, you are finally back. If you don't come back, I will go find you."

As he was about to turn around and walk back to the guesthouse, he suddenly saw Wang Mengde holding a child in his arms and asked curiously, "What's going on with this child?"

"We picked it up on the road." Zhu Tao spoke first.

After arriving at the guesthouse, he finally let go of his anxious heart and breathed a sigh of relief.

"Pictured up? You found him near the Guanyin Temple, right?" When Hu Danian heard that the child was picked up, he said with certainty.

"Hey, Uncle Hu, how do you know it was picked up next to the small temple?" Zhu Tao asked curiously.

"Well, this is also the tradition of several nearby villages." Hu Danian explained with a sigh.

"This temple is dedicated to Guanyin Bodhisattva. On the first and fifteenth day of every lunar month, many villagers nearby would go to the temple to worship and pray for children, blessings, and disaster relief.

I don’t know when it started, but if a family has a child that they can’t afford to raise or is sick, especially a girl, they would take the child to the small temple at night. When the temple keeper sees the child in the morning, he would take the child to the temple to raise it first, hoping that some family would take the child home to raise it.”

"So that's how it is." Wang Mengde looked at the baby who was already sleeping in his arms and said thoughtfully.

"By the way, it's not convenient for you to take care of this child, and he will have to go back in the future. I will find a family to adopt him tomorrow." Hu Danian said.

"See if it's a boy or a girl, and if there's any disability?"

After opening the worn-out clothes and carefully examining them, Wang Mengde looked up and said, "This is a little girl, about one and a half years old. She is a little thin due to lack of nutrition, but otherwise she is relatively healthy.

By the way, Uncle Hu, the third brother Jiang from the Jiang clan leader's family in Chitang Village has been married for several years but has no children. They are thinking of adopting one. I will ask them tomorrow if they are willing."

"Jiang Laosan from Chitang Village, if his family is willing to raise the child, this child will be blessed."

Hu Danian said with a smile.

The conditions of Chief Jiang's family are considered the best among the nearby villages. If you live in his family, I can't say for others, but at least you won't starve easily.

After a simple wash, Wang Mengde carefully placed the little girl beside him, lay down on the floor, and soon fell asleep.

In the morning, after he helped her pee and wash her face, the little girl lay in his arms, staring at him, smacking her lips, waving her two little hands, looking as if she was still unsatisfied.

In the early morning, when no one was paying attention, he sneaked outside, bought a box of pure milk from the space, and fed her 150 milliliters.

If she wasn't afraid of getting bloated from drinking too much at once, she would probably drink this 250 ml box of milk in one go.

In Chitang Village, when Mrs. Jiang San saw the little girl, she immediately fell in love with her.

She walked forward, hugged him in her arms, and then looked at her husband pleadingly.

Brother Jiang San naturally hopes to have a child of his own, but Wang Mengde also examined him a few days ago. He has the same symptoms as Xu Damao, so he probably has no hope of having a child of his own in this lifetime.

Seeing his wife's eager eyes, he stomped his feet, turned around and went out to find his father, Clan Leader Jiang.

"It's good to have a girl. After two years, you can have a chance to adopt a boy. That way you will have both a son and a daughter. Even though they are not your biological children, they were raised by you two since they were young, so they are no different from your biological children."

After treatment, Chief Jiang is in much better spirits.

He listened to his third son's story, thought about it, and agreed directly.

"Thank you, Dad. I'll go back first." Brother Jiang San said happily.

"Don't be in a hurry to leave. The girl you are going to adopt has a great affinity with the doctor from the capital. You two should get closer to each other in the future."

Patriarch Jiang said meaningfully.

"Got it, Dad. I'll be there right away."

After saying that, he hurried home. He couldn't wait to hug the baby, because this child would belong to him from now on.

With this little girl, Mrs. Jiang San finally showed a smile from the bottom of her heart. She gave the child a nickname "Guaiguai". As for the full name, it would need to wait until the child grows up a little and then be chosen by the head of the Jiang clan.

Wang Mengde also liked "Guaiguai" very much, probably because he already had two sons, or maybe because he wanted a daughter in his previous life.

And 'Guaiguai' also likes him and wants to be with him every day.

On this day, Wang Mengde cooked a large pot of Chinese herbal medicine in the ancestral hall for the patients in the village. This time he adjusted two more herbs, hoping to have a better effect.

On his back, 'Guaiguai' was holding an osmanthus branch in his hand, lying on it obediently, looking at the boiling pot with his big eyes curiously, and laughing from time to time.

"Meng De, everyone in the village has been checked, and there are no new patients today." Qian Dayong walked in hurriedly and wiped the sweat from his head.

The weather in northern Guangxi County is still very hot in October.

"That's good. Since we came here, there have been no new patients in the village. This is a good phenomenon." Wang Mengde turned around and said with a smile.

After carrying out the improvement of the living environment and a lot of publicity and prevention work, the living habits of the villagers have changed a lot.

By controlling the source of infection, cutting off the transmission route, taking preventive medication and other methods, we have finally achieved some results.

"Yes, this is a good phenomenon, but we haven't found a particularly effective treatment method yet," Qian Dayong said with mixed feelings.

Through measures such as offering prescriptions, traditional Chinese medicine practitioners from all over the country have actually discovered a large number of Chinese herbal medicines and prescriptions that can effectively prevent and treat schistosomiasis.

For example, there is the "Ascites Grass" from Zhejiang Province, the "Tiger Grass" from Jiangsu Province, the root bark of the Tung tree from Anhui Province, the "Quansheng Ascites Pills", "Modified Weiling Decoction and Jiangfan Pills" from the two lakes, and so on.

But the effect is at best suppression, healing is impossible.

While the two were chatting, on Wang Mengde's back, 'Guaiguai' saw the boiling Chinese medicine pot, reached out and threw the osmanthus branch into the pot, right in the center of the pot.

"Hey, you naughty little fellow."

Seeing her throw the osmanthus branches into the medicine pot, Wang Mengde cursed with a smile, and quickly picked out the branches with long chopsticks.

This pot of medicine is used by dozens of people in the village. If it is wasted, the loss will be huge.

the next morning.

After preparing medicine for the sick people in the village, Wang Mengde was playing with Guaiguai when Zhu Tao ran over, panting.

"Ahem, Brother Mengde, great news."

"What happy event?"

"Just now, Brother Dayong and I observed them and took their pulses, and found that their conditions have improved significantly.

Meng Dege, it seems that the adjustment of the prescription you made yesterday worked."

Zhu Tao took a few breaths and then said happily.

"Really? Let's go and take a look together." Wang Mengde said happily.

As he said this, he picked up Guaiguai and ran towards the ancestral hall.

After entering the ancestral hall, Wang Mengde saw Qian Dayong happily checking the pulse of several people. He took a few steps forward and carefully observed their expressions.

Sure enough, I found that these people looked much better than the previous two days.

"Meng De, you are here."

Qian Dayong retracted his arm and felt someone beside him. He turned around and saw that it was Wang Mengde, and said with a smile.

"Look, this is their previous physical condition. We record it every two days. These people are much better today than they were two days ago. It seems that your prescription is working.

Should we report this situation and the prescription to our superiors first?"

"Don't worry, just observe for two more days." Wang Mengde said calmly.

three days later.

The three of them gathered together, looking puzzled and puzzled: "It shouldn't be like this. The same prescription, why is the effect not so obvious in the last few days?"

(End of this chapter)