Participating in consultations with the chief physician is the prelude to practicing medicine independently.
Director Dai scrutinized the child carefully, his face betraying few emotions.
"How old is the child?"
"One year and seven months."
"Has the child been weaned off breast milk?"
"He has been weaned long ago. The child now eats meals with the adults."
Children from poor families rarely drink milk. They usually wean around one year old and then eat meals with the adults. Children from wealthy urban families often rely on milk as their main food until they are three.
Another interesting phenomenon is also apparent.
Urban female white-collar workers tend to not breastfeed after giving birth. On one hand, they need to work and cannot stay at home to care for their children. On the other hand, they are very conscious of their figures and worry that breastfeeding will cause sagging breasts and other issues, affecting their appearance.
Therefore, they prefer to spend thousands of yuan per month to buy milk to feed their children.
Only in recent years, with recurring milk scandals in the market and scientific research showing that children raised on breast milk are healthier and smarter, have urban female white-collar workers started choosing to breastfeed more.
The extended maternity leave has also created favorable conditions for female white-collar workers to breastfeed their children.
This child no longer breastfeeds, meaning that when sick, he must rely on his own immune response to fend off viral attacks.
Zhou Can could faintly hear a whistling sound when the child breathed.
It was like an odd noise produced by blowing into a tube or a small dog barking.
"This is not good; the child’s throat surely has inflammation, and it’s very likely to be acute inflammation." This content belongs to n0velfire.net
Judging by the child’s cyanotic face and lips, one could infer the child might currently have a high fever. There are also breathing issues, indicating possibly severe deficiency in blood oxygen exchange.
"Dr. Chen, take the child’s temperature and do a physical examination," instructed Director Dai to Chen Jiaojiao.
Petite and sweet-looking Chen Jiaojiao appeared especially gentle and quiet.
Who would guess that this seemingly delicate young girl is not only a graduate student at Imperial Capital Medical University but also possesses strong surgical skills?
She stood up and walked over to the sick child, flashing a smile and softly said, "Be a good kid, auntie is going to give you an exam, no crying now!"
She proficiently placed the thermometer under the child’s armpit.
Then she began to measure critical vitals such as heart rate, pulse, blood pressure, and respiration for the child.
It was clear to see that the child’s body was quite sturdy.
His little arms and neck were plump.
He also looked chubby in the face.
"Oh no, his temperature is as high as 41.3 degrees Celsius! That’s scary!" exclaimed Chen Jiaojiao after a while, pulling out the thermometer and reacting with a shocked look.
A body temperature exceeding 39 degrees is already considered a high fever.
The child’s temperature reaching as high as 41.3 degrees was indeed frightening.
This also indicates the child’s immune system is frantically burning stored energy within the body to combat the viral invasion.
"I suspect his larynx is swollen, and quite severely at that," Zhou Can spoke up, unable to hold back.
There wasn’t much else to do, so he might as well observe how Pediatric Director Jie treated this sick child.
When the child cried, his voice was hoarse, and with each breath, there was a faint barking sound.
"Dr. Zhou seems to be quite skilled at pediatric diseases!" observed Chen Jiaojiao, turning her gaze towards Zhou Can.
She must have been paying attention to Zhou Can for some time, but her shy and introverted personality left her with no opportunity to speak with him.
Even though they sat at adjacent desks in the clinic, they had not spoken during this time.
"Alas, I’m just a Jack of all trades, I wouldn’t dare claim to be skilled. But, I am genuinely worried about the child’s condition. If he doesn’t receive prompt and effective treatment, his illness could rapidly deteriorate, and the prognosis would be very poor. Look, he’s already showing signs of sternal retraction."
Zhou Can wasn’t really skilled at pediatric diseases.
The child was already in such a state, with the appearance of sternal retractions during respiration, indicating that the child’s condition was deteriorating rapidly.
The child’s mother’s ignorance played a part, failing to seek medical help immediately when the child’s condition took a turn for the worse.
Instead, she waited until it was serious before seeking a doctor.
To put it bluntly, the child is almost dying before coming to see a doctor, not to mention the suffering the child has to endure, it’s even uncertain whether his life could be saved.
Sternal retraction is when inhalatory breathing difficulties occur, the respiratory effort is increased compensationally by the chest and abdominal auxiliary respiratory muscles to expand the thorax, aiding the process of respiration. However, due to insufficient lung expansion, negative pressure within the chest cavity increases, causing in-drawing of the chest wall and the surrounding soft tissues, such as the suprasternal notch, supraclavicular fossae, substernal angle or the upper abdomen, and intercostal spaces during inhalation.
When this symptom appears in infants, there should be no hesitation; they must be rushed to the hospital.
In the case of this sick child, with a cyanotic complexion, he’s showing initial signs of respiratory failure and starting to experience hypoxia.
"It is indeed quite serious," Chen Jiaojiao nodded, agreeing with Zhou Can’s assessment. "Director Dai, what should we do next?"
Hearing the two young doctors describe her child’s condition as serious, the child’s mother became anxious.
Her eyes desperately sought guidance from Director Dai.
In the face of terrifying illness, ordinary people have nothing but doctors to turn to.
"This high fever and the appearance of sternal retractions call for an immediate laryngoscopy. If pus is found, we must act fast to medicate, or if the laryngeal passage is blocked, he will undoubtedly not be able to breathe."