I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel

The Cost of Misdiagnosis (2)

Episode 50. The Price of Misdiagnosis (2)

The price of misdiagnosis was high.

I don’t know how much damage Imentia suffered, but the cost of freezing an entire city would never be light.

If you ask whose fault it is, well, who knows. Maybe it’s the officials who panicked at the symptoms of hemoptysis and skin rashes and thought of the Black Death?

That’s for Imentia to figure out.

I need to think about how to help the patients. The most helpful thing right now would be to lift the quarantine and give vitamin C to the scurvy patients. It shouldn’t be too hard to persuade them, right?

Everyone has their own opinions.

Those opinions are usually as obvious to the person holding them as the sky is blue and water flows downward.

There are people who won’t be persuaded even if the sky splits in two when it comes to truly important matters.

I hope the people of Imentia aren’t like that. We’ll see when we try, I guess.

I’ll just relay the information to the temple healers and then go persuade the mayor.

I rejoined Anata. Anata was discussing something important with other healers in a corner of the temple.

We stood before the priests.

“The conclusion has been reached, Anata.”

“What is it?”

“It would be best to just give medicine to those whose symptoms are not severe and send them home.”

“Is that so? Won’t it be dangerous?”

“It doesn’t seem like the plague will spread exponentially. It looks better for the patients who are well enough to go home.”

“Ah… I see.”

You nodded.

I expected some resistance, but surprisingly, you seemed to accept it quickly. Well, the temple’s supplies are running low, and manpower is scarce.

Perhaps you didn’t want to hear the suggestion of sending less critical patients home.

“The most contagious thing is the common cold. It would be best to send home patients who don’t have symptoms like fever, cough, or phlegm.”

Right now, the social costs and risks of quarantine seem greater than the benefits of isolation and mass containment. We need to end this as soon as possible.

“I’ll ask the higher-ups.”

“Will it be difficult?”

“As long as we get permission, it shouldn’t be a big deal… But I don’t know what the bishop and the mayor think.”

“I’ll try to persuade them. Anyway, if supplies run out, we won’t have much choice, right? It will be hard to maintain quarantine.”

You hesitated a bit, but ultimately, it’s not your decision to make. You seemed to have reached a similar conclusion as I did.

The priest looked up.

“Fruits will arrive soon, and from now on, distribute one to each patient. If they have a normal diet for about a week, they should recover.”

“Really, I hope so.”

Back in the castle of Imentia. I bowed to the mayor of Imentia. The mayor of Imentia looked at me with a troubled expression.

“Please explain again, Professor.”

It feels like I’m explaining it over and over again.

It’s a bit frustrating, but that’s how bureaucracy works. The mayor of Imentia is relatively reasonable. Probably.

“Mayor. Due to our quarantine and treatment efforts, the risk of the plague spreading further seems low. Please send the mild patients home and lift the curfew and quarantine measures.”

“If that’s true, it’s a relief.”

It didn’t look like a face of relief at all.

“This is the conclusion I came to after seeing the temple. There aren’t many fatalities, but there’s a risk of the cold spreading in such a crowded environment. Weighing the pros and cons, it seems better to lift the quarantine.”

“Can you explain how this happened? I’m not a healer, and I don’t understand the situation at all.”

That could be. I pondered how to explain it. The safety of many people might depend on my choice of words.

“The disease we initially thought was the Black Death, I believe, is the result of three overlapping diseases: periodontitis, the common cold, and scurvy.”

“Three diseases?”

“Yes. Periodontitis is a disease that causes bleeding gums, and quite a few people have it. The common cold can spread in this weather, and scurvy is a disease that sailors often get.”

“Even if we assume that, it doesn’t fully explain the situation.”

I continued speaking.

“The crew of the Rosaria, which docked a few days ago, must have had scurvy. They caught the authorities’ attention, and when they also caught a cold, symptoms like skin rashes, colds, and hemoptysis might have looked similar to the Black Death.”

“That’s true.”

“So the authorities started looking for patients with similar symptoms. They must have looked for symptoms similar to those of the crew of the Rosaria who were hospitalized. They would have used bleeding from the mouth, coughing, phlegm, and skin rashes as criteria.”

The causes of misdiagnosis: fear, ignorance, and good intentions. Indeed, most mistakes people make probably stem from these three.

The mayor still looked displeased, but he slowly nodded anyway.

“So.”

“Considering the sanitary conditions of the marketplace, many people must have had periodontitis. There would have been quite a few people coughing with bleeding gums.”

“So. At first, we mistook people who had both scurvy and a cold on the Rosaria for having the Black Death, and in the city, we mistook people who had both periodontitis and a cold for having the Black Death? Is that what you’re saying?”

“Yes.”

The mayor groaned and pressed his temples. It must be distressing just to think about it.

“It’s complicated. If it weren’t for your words, Professor, I would never have known… Goodness.”

“So, what’s the solution?”

“The treatment for scurvy is a normal diet that includes vegetables and fruits. If the cold symptoms are severe, medication can be given to alleviate the symptoms, but there is no specific cure.”

“What about periodontitis?”

“Periodontitis is a chronic disease, and likewise, there is no clear cure. You just need to brush your teeth well regularly. It’s not a fatal disease.”

The mayor of Imentia pondered for a long time.

“Professor, to summarize what you’re saying now, does it mean that if we just distribute lemons well from now on, we’ve done everything we can?”

“Yes.”

“That’s terrible. How much has the city paid for the incompetence of the authorities…?”

I didn’t think so.

“Well, rather, isn’t it because we have experience fighting past epidemics that we were able to establish quick and efficient measures? It was simply good luck that this epidemic was the flu.”

It wasn’t just a simple lip service.

Wasn’t it because Imentia had records of fighting the Black Death in the past that they were able to quickly establish measures? If it had been the real Black Death, this would not have been enough.

“Professor, how quickly can we expect this situation to be resolved?”

“The crew of the Rosaria will start to recover after just a few days of normal meals. Most colds will be cured in a week.”

“One last question.”

“Yes.”

“What should we tell ordinary people or officials about this situation? How much should we explain to them?”

I don’t know that either.

Isn’t that more of a political issue than a medical one?

“Well, it’s like this. A doctor cannot lie to a patient. The principle is that the patient decides what treatment to receive.”

“Ideal.”

“But the patient doesn’t know better than I do, right? I shouldn’t lie or force anything, but I don’t think I need to hide what I want to say either.”

“Hmm.”

“Fundamentally, it’s best to speak the truth without hiding anything. But there’s no need to express it in a disadvantageous way.”

“Understood.”

I greeted the mayor and left the meeting room. I hope the results are good. Well, he seemed like a reasonable person.

Wouldn’t he listen well?

Things progressed faster than expected. Well, the quarantine was quick, so the release should be quick too.

A cartload of lemons arrived at the temple, and the mayor’s soldiers started distributing the lemons to each household.

Most of the patients who were quarantined in the temple returned home with a few lemons and four days’ worth of cold medicine.

Only the original patients and the most critical ones remained in the temple. This happened two days after we arrived at Imentia Castle.

I feel like I’ve forgotten something, but maybe it’s just my imagination? The hospital should have handled hospital matters. I don’t know what I’ve forgotten.

I hope it’s nothing important.

Mint. The empire’s finest daughter. A princess befitting the title of “above all people.” Everything in the world was beneath her. Her blood was so blue it was almost golden. She even had a talent for magic.

Those things might make her feel better, but! Anyway. Regardless of what one already has, there are always things one desires.

With a somewhat complicated expression, a mix of boredom, annoyance, fatigue, and a hint of expectation, she stared at the calendar.

What Mint desires isn’t something grand.

Or is it?

How many days has it been already?