Chapter 367: Chapter 249: Guangxi Bamboo Rats and Talaromyces marneffei

“It’s late, aren’t you going to sleep?”

The study door opened, and Liu Yan’Er walked in wearing a light nightgown, placing a cup of milk by his side and speaking softly.

“In a moment, I’m looking for some important information about a patient.”

Qin Feng looked up and smiled, holding her hand.

“What kind of illness could stump even a miracle doctor like you?”

Liu Yan’Er couldn’t help but feel amused and asked curiously.

“A seventeen-year-old girl has a rare fungal infection, and it’s quite serious.

But for three years, there’s been no trace of the cause, and now half of her lung is nearly consumed.”

“What kind of infection is so severe that it even consumes the lung?”

Hearing Qin Feng’s words, Liu Yan’Er was shocked.

“Have you heard of flesh-eating bacteria?…”

Qin Feng patiently explained to her, leaving Liu Yan’Er covered in goosebumps, her mouth agape in astonishment.

Eventually, she learned that half of the girl’s lung and even the sternum were consumed to the point of disappearance, making her as thin as a skeleton, and she swallowed hard.

To an ordinary person, this sounded incredible, yet it was real.

It turns out there are such terrifying diseases in the world, and the cause can’t even be found.

“Being a doctor must be really tough~~~”

After a while, Liu Yan’Er uttered, her expression full of concern.

“Actually, throughout the history of modern medicine, there are very few diseases that can be cured, and often the placebo effect works even better than the medication.”

Qin Feng took a deep breath, speaking heavily.

“But haven’t you cured so many patients?”

Liu Yan’Er tilted her head, puzzled.

“Haha, actually what doctors do is help patients get rid of the lesions, but the rest depends on the patient’s own immune system capabilities.

It’s like those severely ill patients in the ICU; their survival hinges more on themselves.”

Qin Feng patted her hair, shaking his head as he explained.

“I see.”

Liu Yan’Er nodded, somewhat understanding but still mumbling to herself.

“Alright, you go to bed first. I’ll come over after I’m done working. I need to call the director to verify some details.”

“Okay, I’ll go first, come back soon.”

With that, Liu Yan’Er left, and he picked up the phone to call Meng Dawei.

In the office,

Meng Dawei was also searching for information on Xiaoru’s condition. This patient was one of the most challenging cases he had encountered in his medical career.

“Hello, Qin Feng, still up this late?”

The call connected, and he asked with a smile.

“Director, it’s like this, I have some thoughts on Xiaoru’s condition, and I might need you to talk to Xiaoru’s parents.”

Qin Feng said.

“Oh? I just had an idea too.”

Meng Dawei’s eyes brightened, immediately responding enthusiastically,

“I just reviewed a lot of domestic and international cases of fungal infections, and it seems most are caused either by direct contact or accidental ingestion.”

Hearing Meng Dawei’s words, Qin Feng was equally surprised, having reached the same thought.

“Director, my thinking aligns with yours, so I want to confirm whether there was any possible contact before Xiaoru’s initial symptoms arose.”

“Looks like we’re thinking alike, hehe~”

On the other end, Meng Dawei couldn’t help but laugh.

It was as though they’d found a guiding light, suddenly feeling enlightened.

It seemed they were on the right track!

“Okay, I’ll go ask now, keep your phone on.”

Meng Dawei immediately got up and headed toward Xiaoru’s ward.

It was already past 1 AM, but Xiaoru’s parents were unable to sleep.

Just upon reaching the ward area, he saw Xiaoru’s father standing in the smoking area, smoking one after another by the window.

“Mr. Lin.”

A sudden call sounded behind him, and he turned his head sharply.

Seeing it was Meng Dawei, he hurriedly stubbed out his cigarette.

“Director Meng, hello, hello, is there something you need at this late hour?”

“It’s like this, Dr. Qin and I have some things we’d like to understand regarding your daughter’s condition.”

“Sure, sure, no problem.”

The man nodded repeatedly, quickly agreeing.

“It’s like this, before your daughter had a fever three years ago, where did you travel with her?”

They found a place to sit, and Meng Dawei put his phone on speaker as he asked.

“Mainly to the southern or southwestern areas.”

At this point, Qin Feng quickly asked over the phone.

According to his knowledge of bacterial infection cases, aside from the northern coastal cities, more than half were concentrated in the southern regions.

The temperature and humidity there were very conducive to bacterial growth, increasing the likelihood of infection.

“The south? Let me think.”

Mr. Lin furrowed his brows upon hearing that, sinking into thought,

“I remember it was during Xiaoru’s summer vacation after her high school entrance exams. Her mother and I took her on a trip, from Fujian to Hunan, Chengdu in Sichuan, and Yunnan — all those famous spots. We pretty much visited most of the southern cities.”

“Did you have contact with anything special, like animals?”

Meng Dawei continued to ask.

“We’ve visited a number of zoos. Oh right, we went to the wild tropical forest park in Yunnan.”

Mr. Lin nodded and said.

Tropical forest park?

Could that be where the infection happened?

“Did your daughter get hurt there, or bitten by anything, like mosquitoes?”

Meng Dawei continued to ask, while on the other end of the line, Qin Feng was deep in thought, frantically eliminating and deducing possibilities.

“No, no.”

Mr. Lin shook his head decisively,

“Her mother was very careful about this. So when we went in, we specially wore protective clothing and applied mosquito repellent on her.

When we came back, we asked her and confirmed she had no mosquito bites or anything like that.

As you know, mosquitoes in the south are quite fierce, and we were worried.”

After he finished speaking, Meng Dawei also hesitated.

If there was no wound, then there was only one possibility left.

“Mr. Lin, did you feed Xiaoru anything unusual?”

After pondering for a while, Meng Dawei asked in a deep voice.

“Unusual?”

“Like… exotic food!”

This was crucial because wild animals are often carriers of germs and viruses, which are transferred to humans through them, leading to infections.

Especially rodents!

“No, no, we never eat such things.”

Mr. Lin waved his hand repeatedly, his tone very resolute.

…

Hearing this, Meng Dawei fell silent.

Is their line of thought wrong?

On the phone, Qin Feng’s mind quickly filtered through all the highly pathogenic germs and potential rodent hosts.

About twenty kinds!

“Mr. Lin, I’ll mention some things. Listen and see if Xiaoru might have consumed any of them.”

Qin Feng said.

“Okay, Dr. Qin, please go ahead.”

Mr. Lin nodded in agreement.

Now there was no other way but to use this elimination method.

“Bats”

“No.”

“Civets.”

“No.”

…

Soon, after comparing more than a dozen items, there were no signs of consumption.

“Rodents.”

“No.”

“Bam…”

“Wait a minute, Dr. Qin.”

Just as Qin Feng was about to say the next item, Mr. Lin suddenly interrupted him.

“Rodents?”

At that moment, both Meng Dawei and Qin Feng’s eyes lit up.

“Um… does a bamboo rat count as a rodent?”

Mr. Lin asked cautiously,

“I remember we seemed to have eaten it once in Guangxi, but it was farm-raised. It should be fine, right?”

Bamboo rat?

Meng Dawei frowned and fell into thought.

There’s no known precedent for bamboo rats causing fungal infections, is there?

But this was indeed a breakthrough point.

However, on the other end of the line, Qin Feng suddenly stood up, exhaled a long breath, and couldn’t help but smile.

Found it!

He immediately locked onto a virus in his mind.

Qin Feng quickly picked up the phone and hastily said,

“Director Meng, please call the laboratory department immediately and have them screen Xiaoru’s blood for the HIV virus right away!”

“You figured it out?”

Meng Dawei was taken aback for a moment, then his face broke into a look of surprise, and he hurriedly asked.

With a confident smile on his lips, Qin Feng slowly said,

“I think we should be able to diagnose it.”

Malassezia furfur!

The only thermally dimorphic fungus among the Penicillium genus, and it’s the only Penicillium known to cause disease in humans!

And the bamboo rat is the largest host!

Hearing this, Mr. Lin’s expression became somewhat odd and uncomfortable, stuttering in disbelief,

“HI…V? How can my daughter have AIDS?

It’s impossible!”

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