Capítulo 732: Chapter 299: County Hospitals Aren’t Necessarily Inferior, Experts Have No Solutions
Eating raw meat, drinking blood – these were the ways of primitive humans.
After millions of years of evolution, humans have long been adapted to eating cooked food and drinking boiled water. Don’t be deceived by foreigners who eat steaks and grilled meat, often only medium-rare or even raw in some cases. Their food is fundamentally different from wild animal meat.
For example, before their beef goes to market, it undergoes a series of tests.
To ensure that hormones, bacteria, viruses, and parasites all meet the standards before it is allowed to be sold.
It’s somewhat like the lab mice used in medical experiments; they are expensive because of very stringent quality requirements.
This eight-year-old boy eating a live fish was arguably being quite naughty.
“Little friend, what kind of fish did you eat back then?”
“It was a goldfish bought from the market! I had a bet with my best friend, and I lost. As a man, I had to keep my word, so I swallowed a live goldfish as we had agreed.”
The boy spoke weakly.
But he managed to amuse Zhou Can and others.
Such a young child possessing a sense of integrity is truly remarkable.
“Little man, where did you get that goldfish from?”
Zhou Can asked, trying to suppress a laugh.
“We caught them in a park with a net! We caught six in total, I ate one, and the rest were taken home by me and my friend to keep. But they all died within two days.”
The boy mentioned that all the goldfish died, showing a regretful expression.
“Oh! When you ate the goldfish, did you chew it into pieces before swallowing, or did you just swallow it alive?” Zhou Can continued to inquire.
In fact, either way, the goldfish would not survive.
The purpose of asking was to further determine the issue of parasitic infection.
The environment in the mouth is completely different from that in the stomach.
The mouth is a breeding ground for bacteria, but the stomach is a crematory that kills various bacteria. Very few viruses and bacteria can escape the killing action of stomach acid. Most parasites similarly cannot survive in the stomach.
However, there are exceptions.
For example, larvae, tapeworms, worms, etc.
If he first chewed the goldfish before swallowing it, parasites might take the opportunity to hide in places like between the teeth, then stealthily infiltrate the head through nasal passages or move into the lungs via the bronchi.
Parasites are extremely resilient and cunning, seizing any slight chance for survival.
“I… was afraid it would jump around in my stomach, so I chewed it into pieces before swallowing with my eyes closed. It tasted very fishy and bitter.” He still felt uncomfortable recalling the scene of eating that fish.
The bitterness he tasted was likely due to biting into the fish’s gallbladder.
And the fish’s feces could also be bitter.
Zhou Can finished asking his questions and continued to look down at the documents.
Following the consumption of the live fish, the patient repeatedly exhibited symptoms of nausea and vomiting. This often occurred within seven to eight hours after eating, accompanied by diarrhea. He had to defecate four or five times a day.
His first consultation was at the local county women and children’s hospital.
This hospital tested the patient’s vomit and confirmed it as stomach contents. The diarrhea was yellow watery stool.
The first routine blood test showed WBC (white blood cells) at 2.2*10^9/L, EOS% (Eosinophils) at 12.3%.
These two indicators are important references for doctors.
An abnormal increase in white blood cells indicates a potential viral or bacterial infection. Eosinophils are a vital indicator for determining parasitic infections.
The county women and children’s hospital conducted a gastroscopy, revealing mild reflux esophagitis.
It appears that this county women and children’s hospital is not too bad.
Any hospital that can perform gastroscopies and colonoscopies has some capabilities.
At least for a county-level hospital, it’s quite commendable.
An abdominal Doppler ultrasound revealed a small amount of fluid in the abdominal cavity.
Zhou Can looked at that ultrasound report; indeed, there was a small accumulation of abdominal fluid.
It also showed an enlarged spleen in the patient.
Generally, an enlarged spleen suggests either swelling or the presence of a tumor.
However, if there is a tumor, we can determine it through different densities visible in the imaging.
Most tumors will have a different density from normal organs.
Continuing on, the results of the urinalysis showed urinary protein (+++).
This indicates a strongly positive result for urinary protein, meaning a substantial presence of protein in the urine, suggesting severe damage to the patient’s kidneys.
This was all the county women and children’s hospital did in terms of examination and treatment. They treated the patient to protect the stomach lining and stop vomiting, and his condition improved enough for discharge.
However, less than a month later, the patient relapsed with vomiting, low fever, and diarrhea.
The family, possibly worried about the limited medical skills at the county women and children’s hospital, did not dare to take the child back for treatment there. Instead, they decisively took him to the Provincial Children’s Hospital.
In actuality, from the examination and treatment methods of this county-level women and children’s hospital, its capabilities were not lacking.
Many people think that county-level hospitals are definitely inferior to city-level hospitals, but this is actually a misconception.
Every hospital has its own specialty.
If a county-level hospital has a skilled doctor who then leads a team specializing in a specific medical field, this hospital’s capabilities in that field might not be inferior to those of provincial-level hospitals.