I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel

The Cost of Misdiagnosis (1)

The Cost of Misdiagnosis (1)

We arrived at the Great Temple of Imentia shortly after. The temple was filled with patients, and the environment was more dire than I had expected.

“It’s more crowded than I thought.”

In a situation where the flu could spread, gathering sick people could have adverse effects.

There were curtains blocking the spaces between the wards and beds, but it didn’t seem enough to completely prevent the spread of the flu.

I don’t know for sure. Since it’s the Great Temple, there might be something like Holy Fields, and there might be people healed solely by healing magic.

I don’t know how powerful the temple’s healing magic is. I looked around.

“Professor, this way.”

Then.

A priest in a white robe raised his hand towards me. I turned my gaze.

“Priest, it’s Anata.”

“Hello. How are things?”

I looked at the priest who had come to see me.

The priest was wearing a white robe.

Long black hair and amber eyes. At first glance, they seemed to be around the same age as Istina.

Anata fiddled with their sleeves.

“Well, the situation… So far, only one person has died, but if this continues for another two weeks, supplies will run out. Then we won’t be able to accommodate all these patients in the temple.”

“Only one… You shouldn’t say it like that. Anyway, I’ll start by checking on the critical patients.”

“Understood.”

Anata nodded.

“In about a day, the city government will start distributing lemons. Do you have any vegetables or fruits in the temple right now?”

They had a look that asked why I was asking that.

“I don’t know. I suppose we do?”

“Please distribute them to the patients as much as possible. If they start taking vitamin C regularly, their condition should start improving in about three days.”

“What is vitamin C?”

“It’s a nutrient found in vegetables and fruits. Especially abundant in citrus fruits.”

“Got it. Do you have any other opinions regarding treatment?”

“Do your best as you have been. There’s no particularly effective treatment for colds.”

Colds or flu cannot be treated with antibiotics.

You can try antiviral drugs like oseltamivir for the flu, but if you don’t use them within 48 hours, they might not be effective. There are many limitations.

It’s questionable whether the medicine will work on the flu in this world. There’s no way to find out, really. There’s no proper cure for a cold.

You could try using a general cold medicine or an antihistamine, but even then, it’s not really a cure. Just do as you’ve been doing.

“But is the situation really that bad?”

“There aren’t as many sick people as you’d think. The sailors keep complaining about itching bodies and bleeding from their mouths.”

It’s a small blessing. It doesn’t seem like a highly fatal plague is spreading this time.

It was as I expected. This plague seemed to be a result of the misunderstandings and misconceptions of Hedwig and the officials who were trying to find a plague.

What do I mean?

The ship that the mayor’s son was on was the Rosaria. When the sailors of the Rosaria arrived in Imentia after their voyage, some of them showed symptoms of bleeding gums and itching.

Because of scurvy.

These people, with weakened immune systems, entered the city and caught a cold.

The city officials, mistaking this for an epidemic, quarantined the sailors and then started looking for people within the city who had similar illnesses.

The fear of the Black Death also played a part.

The Black Death had been gone for a long time, so if they judged only by the symptoms without experience…

People like Hedwig, seeing symptoms like rashes, coughing, and bleeding from the mouth in documents, might have thought it resembled the Black Death.

In the end, various people, including those with periodontitis and colds, were suspected of having the Black Death. Fear spread, and the city imposed curfews and recommended people stay indoors.

This is the chain of events I deduced.

What a tangled mess.

Anata took me to the back of the temple.

“These are the most critical patients. This way.”

Well, it is indeed better in many ways to manage the most critical patients in a separate space.

I adjusted my plague doctor mask and entered the ward. A few patients were lying on the beds, and I could hear coughing sounds.

Let’s see them one by one.

“Mr. Anata, please take care of your business. I’ll check on the patients here and get back to you.”

Anata nodded.

The detective play is over now. After understanding the situation and conveying it to the mayor and officials, today, I will do what I can here.

Just because the plague was a misconception doesn’t mean the sick are not sick anymore.

There are quite a few people dying from a disease that could be the flu or a cold, and scurvy.

Anata left the intensive care unit, and only Istina and I remained in the ward. Istina looked at me with a puzzled expression.

“So, Professor, do you think the plague that came to Imentia was a misconception?”

It’s a bit much to call it a misconception.

“The plague? I’m not exactly sure. It seems like the flu is going around. Sailors might have caught it from abroad, or the city people might have caught it from the newly arrived sailors.”

“So, you’re saying that what we’ve been mistaking for the plague so far is actually the result of patients having both scurvy and the flu at the same time?”

“Yes.”

“How did you come to that conclusion?”

Istina had a puzzled look in her eyes.

There’s no sure way to confirm it.

If this were a modern hospital, we would have tested for the flu, but that’s impossible here.

We can’t even be sure if this is really the flu or just a severe cold.

There’s only one way. To see the patients directly.

“When you’re about to die, you see the Grim Rea- Ugh.”

That sound again. As I arrived at the bedside, I checked the patient’s gums first. It seemed like they were bleeding. Is this guy a sailor too?

I wiped my gloves on the towel next to the bed. The patient was spitting to the side.

“Upon checking, it seems your gums are bleeding. Have you been on a ship recently?”

“Whoa, I thought you were a ghost.”

“I’m a doctor.”

“I was on a ship until a few days ago, and the people on that ship- Cough! Cough!”

It was a phlegm-filled cough. Just as you said, it looks quite serious. I took the patient’s wrist to check the pulse. The heart rate was normal.

“What happened?”

“Bleeding from the mouth, itchy body. Then after a few days, I caught a cold.”

“I see.”

I disinfected my gloves again and took out two white pill bottles from my pocket.

Two handfuls of medicine were placed on the plate beside the patient’s bed. One handful was a general cold medicine, the other was vitamin C candy.

“Take one of each in the morning and evening. Two white ones a day, two yellow ones a day.”

“Got it… Will I get better?”

“You’ll be fine soon. Eat well, drink plenty of water, and get lots of rest.”

Seasonal colds seem to be quite scary. One person has already died. But it looks like most others will be fine.

I’ve taken care of this patient. I walked to the other side of the ward. This person looks in worse condition… I frowned.

“Do you have a fever?”

Istina nodded. I took off my gloves, disinfected my hands, and looked at the patient.

“They’re sleeping. Should we come back later?”

“What if they’re dead?”

“Uh…”

“When you visit a patient in their bed, you should wake them up unless it’s the middle of the night.”

There’s no choice.

Even if wasting time is the least of our concerns. We can’t tell if the hospitalized patient is just sleeping, unconscious, or in a reduced state of consciousness.

“Patient, please wake up.”

They looked worse than I thought.

Their face was red. They seemed to have a fever. I placed the back of my hand on their forehead. They seemed to have a fever. Is their consciousness okay?

“Istina, healing magic.”

“Yes!”

Istina raised her staff.

I checked the patient’s face. It seemed like the fever was severe, possibly due to the flu.

“Patient! Please wake up!”

“Huh, yes…?”

The patient slowly opened their eyes. This might really be a reduced state of consciousness. This time, I shook the patient vigorously to wake them up.

“Wake up!”

“Yes?”

The patient rubbed their eyes and sat up in the bed.

“Uh, I was just sleeping, what’s going on? Is there another problem?”

“We thought you were dead.”

What? Maybe it wasn’t so bad after all.

“You have a bit of a fever. Take this antipyretic right away, and we’ll check again in a few hours. The blanket is confiscated.”

“Oh, is the fever that serious?”

“Yes.”

Scurvy, cold symptoms, decreased consciousness, and now a fever, so it’s serious. Of course, there’s a chance it might get better soon.

I nodded.

“Then. I’ll prescribe an antipyretic, a comprehensive cold medicine, and vitamins. You need to take three pills every morning and evening.”

We left the hospital room. The situation was resolved. At least the patients were all prescribed medication.

“You’ve worked hard…”

“Indeed.”

“Are we going back to the castle now?”

There’s one thing left to do.

“We have to do that. We’ll go around the temple and send home any patients who can be discharged.”

“Yes… How long will it take this time?”

I don’t know that either.

If I can just convince the mayor that it’s not a dangerous epidemic, we could return to the academy right away.