Dark-Haired British Doctor Chapter 77

Episode 77 Syphilis [4]

syphilis.

What was the name of the fungus?

Yes, Treponema pallidum.

'hmm.'

Unfortunately, this is all that comes to mind right away.

Syphilis… It's a really scary disease these days, but it was nothing in the 21st century.

What is that in particular?

After penicillin came out, everything became completely… …nothing?

'Still… … I learned. I learned about syphilis.'

However, syphilis and malaria remained important diseases.

That's because the prevalence rate is extremely high in developing countries.

Of course, it wasn't a dog-like disease like malaria that took tens of thousands of lives every year, but it was still a disease that killed quite a few people.

In Korea, things were a bit different, but anyway, it was on the test.

“We can’t kill him. Let’s at least try treating him.”

“Okay. Let’s call an expert.”

“Expert? Experts in this disease are usually frauds?”

“They call me a murderer. Haha.”

While I was having such productive thoughts, the other people in the carriage were laughing and talking nonsense.

Killian was in the middle, and his expression couldn't have been good because he was called a conman and a murderer.

Especially since the guy who just beat up his colleagues with a knife is now calling them a murderer, it was only natural.

The guy had his head bowed as if he was about to die.

to be honest…….

It was true that he was a bastard who deserved to be killed.

'No… … How did you treat it? At this time… … the treatment wasn't usually a treatment?'

If it was a disease that could be cured with surgery, then it would be better.

What should I do?

Of course, even so, the anesthesia technique is lacking, the equipment is not available, and even the sterilization is poor…

The point was that no matter what, you could at least try.

But syphilis was an infectious disease.

Infectious diseases were the province of internal medicine, unless they could be treated with antibiotics.

And during this period, no matter how much they tried to make it look good, internal medicine was nothing more or less than a quack.

Of course, that doesn't mean that surgery is free from the burden of the past…

'Our condolences to the 19th century patients… … .'

First, I did some silent prayer.

“I guess there’s no choice. I’ll have to call Jemel.”

“Jemel… … Oh, right. Does that guy have syphilis anyway?”

In the meantime, the two doctors, Liston and Blundell, reached some kind of agreement.

Jemel.

When a patient complained of a stomachache, he would drain blood from the stomach, and when a patient complained of a headache, he would try to remove the head. This was the great devil, no, a famous internist in 19th century London… … .

Summoned him.

“Yeah. He’s probably the best among us. He studies hard and does research.”

“Yeah, Jemel might be a bit better with headaches, but he’s probably better than other people with other ailments.”

Contrary to my expectations, the doctors' evaluation of Jemel during this period was extremely generous.

It was so thick that I thought everyone was crazy…

“Okay, everyone’s here.”

Anyway, the carriage soon arrived at the hospital.

Considering that the city of London itself had grown enormously while going through slums, and that the roads were winding and it took a long time to get from one place to another, it was a situation that had come quickly.

I could say that it was extremely fortunate.

The space is too narrow.

It was cramped going in because of the big Joseph and the huge Liston, but it was only natural when they brought back a prisoner named Killian.

No wonder the horse he was dragging had a troubled expression on its face.

Really? Are you really telling me to turn this off?

"thank you."

Anyway, we headed into the hospital.

Joseph and Liston linked arms on either side of Killian, allowing him to escape.

Alfred, Blundell, and I, who didn't seem to be of much help, surrounded them.

Since Liston was either a cop or a gangster, Killian suddenly became a real prisoner.

“Are you going to get your legs cut off?”

“I guess so?”

The bailiff is Liston.

“Eek.”

Killian started to have a fit at the unexpected words.

When I heard that he was going to cut off the leg, I figured that the knife he had just used must have looked unusual.

Of course, that was unfair to Liston, so he hit the back of the head with all his might.

To be honest, I thought he was going to kill Killian.

“Ugh.”

“Oh, hey. I have to walk.”

I don't know if I should say it was fortunate, but he only fainted for a moment and woke up again.

Indeed, he was a sailor.

That's because the opponent was Liston, but if it were just us, we would have been the ones lying on the ground.

-dripping.

Anyway, we arrived at Jemel's office.

“Are you inside?”

“Yes. I’m seeing a patient, but come in.”

In an age where personal information and privacy are treated as if they were nothing, we were able to enter without any disturbance, even though there were patients being treated.

Surprisingly, the patient inside was completely naked.

It was so… … naked that I felt like it was fortunate that he was a man.

Of course, the patient wasn't particularly surprised.

Because during this time, people had given up a lot when they came to the hospital.

'Ah… … syphilis… … .'

Everyone else had similar reactions, and I was the only one who felt embarrassed.

That was only for a moment.

The patient had syphilis.

It has already reached its third stage… …so, it can be said to be in the terminal stage.

At this point, it was virtually impossible to avoid complications even with modern medicine, and death was possible.

If it were South Korea, they would have somehow managed to save it… … .

Still, complications could not be avoided.

“This is bad.”

“What kind of illness is it?”

Blundell asked a stupid question, seeing that it was obviously syphilis.

If this was a university hospital… … Blundell would have been scolded like a dog.

You little punk, even if you don't have any real experience, you don't know what syphilis is!

He said on his shoulder, “Is that an ornament or something?”

The professor of infectious disease at our hospital was really scary.

But instead of getting angry, Jemel laughed heartily when he saw the two.

“It’s syphilis. It needs to be treated.”

"therapy?"

"which?"

Then he went on to explain.

No one cared that the patient in front was still naked.

"mercury."

"mercury……?"

“That’s poison… isn’t it?”

At the word mercury, I opened my mouth without realizing it.

Jemel recognized my excellence because of my illusions, but for the same reason he didn't like me that much, so he made a sullen face.

“Who doesn’t know that? But there is no other treatment than mercury.”

“No… … Wait a minute.”

Don't you know the word heavy metal?

Don't you know what mercury poisoning is?

There was chaos in Japan in 1956!

As soon as I heard the word mercury, all sorts of memories came rushing back to me like crazy, as if it was a signal.

Then it occurred to me that it was not 2022, but 1830.

Plus, at one time… no, for over 500 years, mercury was used as a treatment for syphilis.

– It was a terrible time. For example… … you know Alphonse Daudet? The author of The Last Lesson. He also had syphilis, and eventually died of mercury poisoning. The pain was so bad that he had to take morphine regularly in his later years.

The treatment that even renowned writers could not avoid was mercury.

'But why am I thinking of arsenic?'

Don't you come across that sometimes when searching on Naver?

When a word that seems a bit odd appears as a related search term.

Arsenic came to mind like that.

Of course, it wouldn't have mattered.

“Okay, this is mercury.”

I was so focused that I drowned out the surrounding noise.

'Arsenic… … 606… … Salvarsan… … .'

As a result, something came to mind, and it seemed like it might have been the answer to the genealogy.

Otherwise, I would not have remembered such an unfamiliar word until now.

If you include my previous life, it's already been… … almost 25 years since I was a student.

Fortunately, in this life, when I was much younger than I am now, I was able to wipe away all my memories… … .

“Are you giving me this?”

“Yeah. But this patient is one of the worst I’ve ever seen. I need to increase the dosage.”

“Capacity? Then what happens?”

“A lot of syphilis bacteria will die.”

“What about the patient?”

“That’s up to heaven.”

“Well… … syphilis is a punishment from God.”

“Oh, you’re a devout person. I have a slightly different opinion, but… … Well, I guess it can’t be helped if you think that way.”

While I was on this meaningful journey into old memories, the doctors around me were continuing their gruesome stories.

In other words, isn't this what it means to say to a patient, "You did something wrong and got this disease, so you're being punished for it?"

Even if the cause of the disease was clear, it shouldn't have happened that way.

No matter what the disease, doctors should have compassion when treating patients and not be consumed by a sense of justice.

Of course, if the opponent was someone like Killian… … someone who deliberately spread an incurable disease… … then that would be different…

"ego……."

"for a moment!"

I stopped him because the patient wasn't Killian.

"why?"

If it were like before, Jemel would have just ignored what I said.

No, it must have been the doctors around me who did that, but fortunately, I am absolutely not in a position to do that.

The genius from the East or the genius doctor from Joseon is me.

“Arsenic… … I think arsenic would be better.”

“Huh? Are you trying to kill this guy?”

For that reason, Jemel listened to what I said and then shook his head as if he was dumbfounded.

That was understandable.

arsenic…….

This is also poison.

That too was quite venomous.

“606… … .”

“What are you talking about?”

“No, forget about that.”

As I talked, memories began to come back more vividly.

Arsenic compound 606, also known as salvarsan.

A legendary drug developed by Ehrlich.

Of course, since it was made from arsenic, it had fatal side effects such as heart failure… … .

It was far superior to mercury.

Didn't he even receive the Nobel Prize in Medicine?

'Is that possible in this day and age?'

It seems to have been made in the early 20th century… … They said that the water quality is 100 years different from now.

Of course, science at this time is not easy, so it would be possible to lead it… … .

The problem was that I was not a chemist.

“What? It’s bland. Okay… … .”

Arsenic instead of mercury?

Arsenic oxide is poisonous?

As someone who doesn't know what compound 606 is, I had nothing else to say.

Meanwhile, Jemel laughed heartily and ended up giving the mercury to the patient.

Even to an outsider like me, it seemed like a huge amount of mercury.

Will I be able to survive…?

“Ugh… … My head… … hurts?”

As expected, the patient complained of side effects.

What was surprising was Jemel's calm reaction.

“Everyone else is like that, so don’t worry.”

Normally, shouldn't everyone stop the treatment in that case?

This crazy guy… … ?

“So, what brings you here?”

Anyway, he's not crazy, Dr. Jemel turned to us, and Liston and Blundell among us turned to Killian.

“It’s syphilis.”

“Ah… … Bring the mercury. In the meantime, take off your clothes.”

“Ah, no… … !”