Chapter 245 Li Shizhen
Li Shizhen entered Taizhou and saw the tragic situation ravaged by the epidemic.
Taizhou is the hub of the salt industry in the north of the Yangtze River. This city has a long history and is located at the intersection of the Yangtze River, Huaihe River and the Grand Canal.
Since the rise of Yangzhou, Taizhou has been a prosperous place.
When Wang Gen lectured here, he established the Taizhou School and accepted disciples here. It is said that when Wang Gen lectured, the streets were empty every time, and Taizhou City was packed to the brim.
However, when Li Shizhen went south, he saw another miserable scene of "empty streets".
A large number of villages were directly abandoned, and the fields were washed away by the Huaihe River. Many villages disappeared that night.
Those who were lucky enough to survive were also struggling to survive in the epidemic, and it could be said that there was nothing left in the house.
After Li Shizhen diagnosed several patients, he determined that this was the "gu disease" mentioned by Sun Simiao in Qianjin Prescription.
"Some people suffer from edema, and their abdomen is large and their limbs are thin and their abdomen is as hard as a stone... This lifelong disease cannot be cured by force."
Li Shizhen frowned. Sun Simiao said that this disease cannot be cured by force and can only be nursed back to health slowly. When the body is better, he can use medicinal stones to kill the poison.
But now the people in Taizhou are starving to death even if they don't have Gu disease, and there is no condition for recuperation.
Although Li Shizhen carried some medicine, she did not have enough food.
As a doctor, he understands that the most difficult disease to treat in the world is actually the disease of poverty.
The wealthy households in Taizhou are not free from the disease, but as long as they can take good care of themselves, they will not turn into acute illnesses and die violently.
But when the poor get sick, they not only have no way to take care of themselves, but they also have to work in search of food in order to survive. As a result, the disease becomes acute and they die quickly.
Li Shizhen was helpless. He used Sun Simiao's prescription to drive away poisonous insects. He told the people the prescription, taught them how to identify herbs, and then continued walking towards Taizhou City.
At the same time, Su Ze and others also arrived near Taizhou City.
Because the magistrate of Taizhou contracted the disease and died, there was no one in the city who could take the lead in the disaster relief. The city gates were wide open, and a large number of people who were still able to leave without the disease crowded inside and outside the city, trying to use the city walls to block the terrible epidemic.
After treating several patients, Su Ze determined that this was the "schistosomiasis" that would be feared in later generations.
As the name suggests, this is a parasite that multiplies in the human body and lodges in the venous system of the human body.
Some chronic patients may take more than ten years to develop the disease, but what is happening in Taizhou now is acute schistosomiasis. The time from onset to death is very short, and the deceased often have severe liver ascites, so they have a swollen belly.
This disease has caused serious damage to China even in modern times.
It was the officers and soldiers who committed the crime.
Schistosomiasis appears in the South because it is a water-borne disease.
Adult blood parasites in the human body lay hundreds of eggs every day.
About half of the eggs can pass through the blood vessels, enter the bladder and intestines and be excreted from the body.
The eggs hatch into miracidia in the water, which have no ability to infect humans and target snails.
When the miracidia encounter the snail, they will initiate asexual reproduction inside the snail and divide into cercariae. This process will last for several months, and a single miracaria will eventually multiply into thousands of cercariae.
After leaving the snail, the cercariae enter the water. If they encounter a suitable host, they will penetrate the host's skin within a few seconds and start the growth and reproduction in the host's body.
This completes a cycle from the human body to the intermediate host and back to the human body.
Because the government troops dug up the Huaihe River, flooding occurred throughout the Taizhou area. Oncomelania snails multiplied in large numbers, and the number of cercariae in the water increased sharply. People who worked in the paddy fields fell ill.
These common people became sick, resulting in more schistosomiasis eggs. Even the prefect of Taizhou who inspected the paddy fields was infected and fell ill.
The river water polluted the well water and polluted the daily water and drinking water of the people, which led to such a large-scale epidemic.
After understanding the cause of the disease, Su Ze immediately started fighting the disaster outside Taizhou City.
The anthelmintic drug used to treat schistosomiasis in later generations was praziquantel, a chemically synthesized agent that Su Ze naturally could not make.
However, there are prescriptions for deworming in ancient books, but patients suffering from schistosomiasis are often very weak and unable to bear the deworming drugs.
Therefore, Su Ze's plan was to centrally manage these patients first. He asked Li Zhi and Xu Shi to go to the city to collect food from large households in the city. They would provide nutrition to these patients first, and then deworm them after they got better.
For schistosomiasis, treatment is never the key, the key is disease prevention.
The most important step is to cut off the intermediate host of schistosomiasis, which is the snail.
After the founding of the People's Republic of China, in order to eliminate schistosomiasis, a vigorous snail extermination campaign was launched. As long as this intermediate host is eliminated, the schistosomiasis will not be able to transform into cercariae with the ability to infect, and schistosomiasis will be under control.
While Su Ze was making up nursery rhymes, he warned local people to beware of snails and to kill them.
Su Ze also promoted the use of hot water and protection when working in the fields.
At the same time, he hired a carving master to connect snails and schistosomiasis, printed them into promotional graphic notices, and posted them in cities and villages in Taizhou to promote the snail eradication campaign.
Oncomelania are also common in water towns, but after Su Ze's publicity, people discovered that this year's snails have become so widespread with the floods that they are breeding everywhere.
When Li Shizhen approached Taizhou City, he saw people wearing leggings, looking for snails near houses, paddy fields, and dams, and then burning the snails together.
When Li Shizhen saw Su Ze's propaganda poster about killing snails, she asked the village chief:
"Old man, who is promoting this?"
The village chief immediately said: "It's Dr. Su from Yangzhou. This Dr. Su is here. There is a disease center outside Taizhou City, and many people have been rescued! It is said that he is the Wenqu star from the sky who came to earth specifically to send the god of plague!"
Li Shizhen still asked with some doubts: "Since we are fighting the epidemic, why do we need to catch snails?"
The village chief said Said: "Doctor Su said that this disease is not the reincarnation of evil spirits, but the entry of voodoo worms into the body, and these voodoo worms grow in the snails, so as long as the snails are destroyed, the voodoo worms will not be able to hatch out and do evil." Li
Shizhen He was stunned for a moment. Being able to say that schistosomiasis is a poisonous disease shows that Dr. Su really understands medical science. However, he still didn't believe in the connection between snails and schistosomiasis, so he asked again: "Will it be effective after killing the snails?
" ?" The village chief grinned and said, "It's effective, it's effective. Since we started eradicating snails, there have been a lot fewer new infections in the village."
Li Shizhen was greatly surprised. He asked, "Where is this Doctor Su?"
" It's just outside Taizhou City. If you go over there, you'll see Dr. Su's village, where Dr. Su treats patients." "
Thank you, father-in-law. I'll say goodbye!"
Li Shizhen carried the medicine box and came to the outside of Taizhou City. Sure enough, he saw Arriving at a busy camp.
Li Shizhen stopped a medical disciple who was carrying a medicine basket and asked, "Is Doctor Su here?"
"Exactly." Seeing that Li Shizhen was also carrying a medical box, the medical disciple thought that he was here to help. He said, "Shenyi Doctor Su is in the tent. If you want to help, just go to Mr. Xu or Mr. Wang. They will arrange work for you."
"Help?"
"Yes, doctors from nearby Taizhou are rushing here, and everyone wants to help."
Li Shizhen said, "I'm from the north, I just want to I want to ask Divine Doctor Su some questions."
"Oh, I want to ask you some questions. Then you can go directly to the tent in the middle. Divine Doctor Su is over there." "
Don't you need to inform me?"
"No, as long as you are asking for medical advice. , Divine Doctor Su never hides his personal skills, he teaches them with all his money."
Li Shizhen was quite moved. He had worked in Tai Hospital. The doctors in the capital all regarded their medical skills as treasures, and they had to hide their personal skills when teaching their disciples. , many young doctors cannot get started after studying for several years.
These doctors also like to make up words, such as using pronouns or ancient names for some medicinal materials. The prescriptions can only be obtained in his own pharmacy, making the prescriptions like a code book.
Li Shizhen hated this trend, so he decided to leave the Imperial Medical Office. His ambition was to compile a pharmacopoeia to get rid of this unhealthy trend of self-preservation.
Hearing that Su Ze was willing to discuss with all the doctors who came to him and never hide anything, Li Shizhen was even more aware of it. He said goodbye to this young doctor, and then walked towards the big tent in the middle with the medical box on his back.
After walking in, Li Shizhen felt like this place was like a military camp.
There were people wearing soldiers' clothes coming in and out, and the entire camp was divided into several parts.
The areas responsible for recuperating patients, the areas responsible for treating acutely ill patients, and the areas responsible for treating mild and common diseases are all divided into parts.
Li Shizhen also smelled the aroma of food, and there was a place dedicated to cooking here.
In addition, Li Shizhen also saw several large barrels. Someone boiled water and poured it into the large barrels. The water used in the entire camp was boiled water.
There are also special soldiers responsible for throwing quicklime, and even leggings and clothes have special places for steaming and disinfecting.
Everything here is in order, and everyone only needs to do their own thing well. Li Shizhen was very amazed by all this. This Mr. Su is indeed a famous doctor who is proficient in medical science!
It was such a famous doctor that Li Shizhen had never heard of when he was in the capital.
When Li Shizhen arrived at the Chinese army tent, he only saw a young man sitting inside reading.
"Li Shizhen, is Dr. Su here?"
Su Ze was reading a book when he suddenly saw Li Shizhen coming in. Hearing him announcing his home address, Su Ze put down the book in his hand in shock and asked, "
But the Li Yuan of Qizhou?"
Li Shizhen was stunned for a moment. He was from Qizhou and once served as a court judge in the Imperial Medical Office. Su Ze actually told him his place of origin and previous official position in one breath. Who is this young man?
Li Shizhen said: "I am indeed from Qizhou, but I have resigned and am no longer a court judge."
Su Ze said with some excitement: "Sir, please sit down, oh, sir, did you travel here?"
Li Shizhen nodded. Although he was indeed famous in the north, not many people knew him when he came south.
Did this young man also go north?
"Brother, are you also from the north? Do you want to be treated by Su Shenyi?"
Su Ze said immediately: "I am Su Ze. I dare not call you a miracle doctor. I want to pay my respects to Mr. Li."
Li Shizhen stood up in surprise again. Looking up and down, Su Ze looked like he was only in his twenties. He was actually a miracle doctor organizing the treatment of Taizhou's Gu disease?
Li Shizhen didn't care about this. He only thought that Su Ze was a disciple of a famous hidden doctor. He also ignored the pleasantries and said straight to the point: "I have something unclear. I would like to ask Doctor Su, what is the relationship between this poisonous disease and the snails?" ?"
Su Ze smiled faintly. There were many doctors who came to ask him these days. In order to answer their questions, Su Ze specially made a simple microscope.
Su Ze clapped his hands, and an apprentice began to play with the reflector outside the tent, until the sunlight was reflected to the reflector inside the tent, and finally hit the base of the microscope.
"Doctor Li, please take a look."
Su Ze invited Li Shizhen to the side. He put a piece of glass under the microscope. Li Shizhen opened his eyes and looked over, and saw a squirming black spot.
Li Shizhen was shocked, and continued to put down the goggles and said: "There is such a magical thing in the world! I can actually see gu insects!"
According to traditional Chinese medicine, gu insects are invisible and formless things, not specific insects.
But Li Shizhen actually saw live cercariae through the microscope, which shocked him greatly.
Su Ze said: "This thing was found from snails. When people work in the water, the cercariae will penetrate into the human body from the skin, then multiply in the human body and absorb human nutrients." Li Shizhen really believed it
now , he also believed that Su Ze was a miraculous doctor. If he wasn't a miraculous doctor, who would have discovered that this little snail was actually a lodging place for Gu insects?
Li Shizhen bowed profusely and said: "It is a great merit that Taizhou has Dr. Su, who is worth thousands of living people!"
Li Shizhen couldn't put it down and said to the microscope: "Where did Dr. Su come from? There is such a magical thing. Inherited?"
Su Ze said: "This thing is called a microscope. It can see tiny things that are invisible to the naked eye." "
Also, this thing is not inherited, but made by Su himself."
Li Shizhen looked at Su Ze in surprise , this kind of artifact is not inherited from ancient times, but made by Su Ze himself?
(End of chapter)