Chapter 729: A History of Exposure in the Tropical Jungle

"This is like an old woman from the countryside sitting on a kang bed-stove sewing shoe soles," Meng Qingfei said, feeling very helpless.

In an instant, the two of them had followed the trail to a dead end.

The patient's behavior and actions were bizarre; starting to embroider and sew shoe soles—it would be a miracle if you could search for these actions online.

Even Meng Qingfei didn't have the thought of picking up his phone.

Searching on the internet also requires keywords and search terms.

Mobile phone intelligence isn't that advanced yet, but if a phone could really give an answer just by filming a short video, the profession of Doctor would cease to exist.

Meng Qingfei and Ji Xiang remained silent for a long time, until a patient returned with their lab report.

After finishing with the patient, Meng Qingfei crumpled the paper into a ball and threw it into the wastebasket; he stood up with his hands behind his back, constantly wiping them on the dark-colored area of his clothes.

Seeing Meng Qingfei pacing back and forth like an ant on a hot pan, Ji Xiang also began to rack his brain.

Looking up illnesses online—Ji Xiang could do that too.

A sudden inspiration struck; Ji Xiang felt that since embroidering and counting money couldn't be searched, the patient's persistent high fever should be a breakthrough point.

He picked up his phone and found the entry for persistent high fever.

However, Ji Xiang didn't start from the beginning, but instead scrolled directly to the Differential Diagnosis section.

The first item: Sepsis.

This one should be ruled out, because no maculopapular rash, skin rash, or skin petechiae could be seen on the patient—none of those external manifestations.

Moreover, sepsis usually presents as a remittent fever, which is inconsistent with the patient's presentation.

The next item: Tuberculosis.

This is easier to perform a Differential Diagnosis on; a Chest CT has already been done, and no tuberculous lesions were seen. Although one cannot rule out rare tuberculosis in other organs, such as tuberculous meningitis, tuberculous pleurisy, peritoneal tuberculosis, lymph node tuberculosis, Kidney tuberculosis, etc., the patient does not show signs of systemic toxic reactions.

Ji Xiang held his phone, searching one item at a time.

"Xiao Ji, you're searching for persistent high fever, right? How far have you gotten?" Although Meng Qingfei wasn't looking at Ji Xiang's phone screen, he had guessed what he was doing.

"I'm looking at typhoid," Ji Xiang said.

"Although there have been occasional cases of atypical typhoid patients in recent years, and I've encountered two cases myself, these patients all had rose spots and a vacant expression. Did you see the expression on his face when he was embroidering?"

Meng Qingfei asked.

"Uh, I didn't pay much attention."

"It looked exactly like a young girl in love making clothes for her little sweetheart."

Hearing Meng Qingfei say this, goosebumps rose on Ji Xiang's back.

But that hair-raising sense of terror was instantly dispelled by the image of Shen Lang in Ji Xiang's mind.

Shen Lang.

Lang Ge.

Ji Xiang smiled.

"The Widal test hasn't been done; write it down. If we really have no other ideas, we'll give it a try," Meng Qingfei said while deep in thought.

At this very moment, he looked like a nationally renowned senior Expert, full of gravitas in every gesture.

Ji Xiang knew that Meng Laoshi had entered "the zone"; this state was similar to 【Senior Doctor's Gaze】, only it wasn't as simple and direct as a system skill.

He obediently wrote down "Widal test" on the paper, noted "typhoid" next to it, and added a question mark.

"What's next?" Meng Qingfei asked.

"Epidemic hemorrhagic fever."

"Facial and ocular congestion?!" Meng Qingfei said suddenly.

Ji Xiang frowned and pondered carefully.

The patient's eyes were blood-red, as if he had pink eye.

Ji Xiang felt something was off; as Meng Qingfei mentioned that patients with epidemic hemorrhagic fever might have facial and ocular congestion, his heart skipped a beat.

Could it be epidemic hemorrhagic fever?

"No, the patient has generalized flushing, but no upper chest flushing. Although I didn't check the armpits, I'll go take a look in a moment to see if there are any petechiae," Meng Qingfei said. "Xiao Ji, make a note of that."

"Okay."

Ji Xiang wrote down "epidemic hemorrhagic fever" on the paper, added a question mark, and recorded what Meng Qingfei said about subcutaneous petechiae and the like.

"Next one."

"Malaria."

After Ji Xiang finished speaking, Meng Qingfei suddenly froze.

"Meng Laoshi?"

"Wait a second." Meng Qingfei was very distressed; he kept his hands behind his back, rubbing them hard against his White Uniform.

"Forgot..."

After a few minutes, Meng Qingfei said in distress.

"Forgot what?" Ji Xiang recalled the words of the system NPC and suddenly felt... something was a bit off.

It was even rarer than a Heart Tumor, but malaria was very familiar; Ji Xiang subconsciously ruled out this diagnosis.

"I have never seen a malaria patient. In 2021, the World Health Organization announced that malaria had been eliminated domestically."

Meng Qingfei spoke very simply, but the meaning was clear.

This...

Ji Xiang was startled; Meng Qingfei's words were somewhat similar to those of the system NPC.

He then picked up his phone.

Ji Xiang also began to search for malaria.

Incubation period, cold stage, febrile stage...

【Some cases of delirium, grasping at the air, or even convulsions or unconsciousness...】

When Ji Xiang saw this line of text, he asked, "Meng Laoshi, what is grasping at the air?"

Meng Qingfei didn't know either, but the symptoms he saw basically matched up.

Immediately, the two of them began searching for "grasping at the air" again.

Ji Xiang felt this way of seeing a patient was particularly strange; it didn't look like two experienced Doctors, but rather like Family Members who didn't understand anything.

Meng Qingfei found the description regarding "grasping at the air and picking at threads," and it suddenly matched the Patient's symptoms.

However, he did not show any joy, but instead glanced at the time.

Picking up his phone, Meng Qingfei hesitated for a moment, but in the end, he still made the call.

"Shen Laoshi, I'm sorry to disturb you so late," Meng Qingfei said very politely.

"Little Meng, what is it? Are you calling me this late because you've encountered a difficulty in diagnosis?" the person on the other end of the phone asked gently.

"It's like this, Shen Laoshi, I've encountered a strange Patient, and I suspect he has contracted malaria. But I have never seen a malaria Patient, so I am calling to consult with you."

Meng Qingfei held the phone, but it was as if he were facing that Shen Laoshi, whose whereabouts were unknown, directly; he kept bowing, his expression humble to the point of being in the dust, his face full of guilt.

"Oh? Malaria? Does the Patient have a history of exposure to tropical jungles?"

Hearing this sentence, Ji Xiang suddenly remembered the Family Member's account.

This time, even Ji Xiang started to grumble to himself; medicine really is full of twists and turns—drinking too much in the Nanyang and passing out in the woods becomes "a history of exposure to tropical jungles" when phrased in medical terms.

"Yes, he does!" Meng Qingfei answered immediately, and he then described the Patient's symptoms.

"Oh, grasping at the air and picking at threads; there are relevant descriptions in traditional Chinese medicine classics from when malaria was prevalent. What you are talking about is the Li Xian Sign; it looks like embroidery."

"Then..."

"Your hospital... probably cannot test for malaria parasites; you should ask your local infectious disease hospital if they can. In the last twenty years, patients infected with malaria have become fewer and fewer, and the vast majority of hospitals have already discontinued this test."

"Alright, Shen Laoshi, is there anything else I can do?"

"You can use Chloroquine for diagnostic treatment."

(End of chapter)