Darkness is Coming

Chapter Four

  The huge conference room in the city hall was crowded at the moment, and the tense meeting was still orderly in the chaos.

The staff of various departments looked nervous and busy. Several doctors who had just come from the hospital with white coats on their bodies were arguing fiercely with the person in charge of the Ministry of Health. The professors and doctors of Jiangdong Medical University looked solemnly to analyze the work in progress. material.

   It was noisy like a vegetable market.

   "Secretary Li is here."

  A handsome young man in a suit and leather shoes walked into the conference room, and the white lab coats sitting around the conference table all stood up.

Secretary Li nodded, helped his gold wire-frame glasses, and said: "Secretary Jin went to the provincial party committee yesterday to hold a research meeting and has not returned to the city, but the mayor will be there soon. How is the situation, our comrades from the Ministry of Health and the hospital and related work Can the personnel stabilize the situation?"

"This is not an ordinary infectious virus." The gray-haired director of Yuanjiang First Hospital shook his head with a heavy face, "It is likely to be a mutated flu, the symptoms are similar to bird flu, but it can be transmitted from person to person through the air, and the infection rate and mortality rate are both high. It's an unprecedented high. Now the major hospitals are flooding with patients and the situation is critical."

"Air infection, human-to-human transmission?" The thick and dignified voice was the mayor Liu Xie, who strode into the conference room surrounded by a few black suits, "Has the statistics been compiled? What is the infection rate? The death rate How much? Do you have an emergency plan?"

  Airborne infection sounds scary, but Liu Xie knows that this is a common medical misunderstanding, and the power of airborne infection is often exaggerated by people.

   It is true that airborne transmission is an efficient and rapid way of virus transmission, but the virus is very fragile. When exposed to the air with its simple structure, it is easy to lose its activity due to its low resistance to ultraviolet rays and oxidizing substances. Medical "airborne transmission" mostly refers to droplet transmission. The pathogen exists in the mucus on the surface of the respiratory mucosa or in the debris of ciliated epithelial cells. A large number of mucus droplets containing pathogens, suspended in the air and then enter the body of the infected person.

   In other words, such a transmission method can only cause a large number of infections in a closed and crowded environment, and it is difficult to threaten others as long as a distance of several meters is crossed in an open area.

   So Liu Xie is more concerned about the fatality rate and infection rate.

   The head of the first hospital replied with a bitter look: "The infection rate is at least 50%, and the mortality rate... 100%."

"One hundred percent?" Liu Xie's thick eyebrows knitted together, "Eight or nine hours have passed since the first patient died, and there is still no effective treatment? So have you found the source of the disease? The infection channel of the patient. Have you figured it out? It's just an air infection, nothing to do with water, food, etc.?"

"These are not yet clear, but one thing is certain, this H7N11-H7N11 is a non-existent influenza virus named according to the naming rules of the Ministry of Health. This H7N11-like virus has a strong irreversible destruction effect on the human body, And it is highly infectious and survivable." Liang Helin, chief physician of the first hospital, handed over a stack of reports and said.

"Hundreds of patients have died in succession. Serum is being developed, but no effective antibodies have been found. As for the source of the disease... the number of patients is too large, I'm afraid we can't think from conventional thinking." Liang and Lin paused, gritted their teeth With great determination, he said, "The reason for the mutation is not yet known, but now many Yuanjiang citizens have fallen into a state of panic, and many people may choose to flee Yuanjiang. If some of them are virus carriers... I think, if there are virus carriers Leaving Yuanjiang and going to other cities is likely to bring the virus to other cities, so I would like to ask you to—"

   "Block the Far River!"

  In an instant, the meeting room was silent, and the needle drop could be heard.

  Yuanjiang is not a small town. This typical Jiangnan town has become a quasi-first-tier city in China after decades of rapid construction after its full opening, and is known as the “Second Provincial Capital” in Jiangdong Province.

  The hasty blockade of such a big city will cause huge economic losses to the country and the people, and will also cause various adverse effects. Such consequences are by no means a chief physician - not even a mayor can easily bear.

But…

   Such a highly infectious, lethal and desperate virus can actually be transmitted from person to person!

  The patients who have already started to die, the shortest duration of illness is less than one day, what does this mean? If the high flow of people in modern society continues, millions of citizens of Yuanjiang may be infected in a few days! What's even more terrifying is... Once all kinds of people who use Yuanjiang as a transit or go out or inflow bring the virus out of Yuanjiang, to Shanghai, Shangjing...

  Liu Xie clenched his fists tightly. The seriousness of the matter was beyond his imagination. He asked again: "No special medicine? No treatment?"

   "So far, no effective treatment has been found, and the development of a specific drug...may take a while."

   It may take a while, how long is this period? one week? a month? In addition, after the drug is successfully developed, it will be mass-produced and put into use. How much time will it take? If the flu spreads across the country through powerful contagion, how many people will lose their lives during the period of time when the drug is developed and put into use?

  If special measures are not taken, the disease will spread on a large scale and cause a big epidemic, so the number of deaths is likely to be astronomical!

Liu Xie took a deep breath and issued an order slowly but firmly: "Develop serum as soon as possible, find effective treatment methods, and enforce the isolation of all confirmed patients and those with suspected symptoms, and electrify the publicity department to release flu news as appropriate to let people with colds pay attention to hurry up. Go to the hospital for inspection. Comrades from the medical department, I need you to compile a research report as quickly as possible. I will call the Health Department and the provincial military region to tell them the situation here, and ask them to contact me with the Yuanjiangyuan Municipal Government. Let’s submit an emergency application to the upper level together—blocking the far river!”

   Everyone was dumbfounded and looked at Liu Xie.

  If Yuanjiang, a big city located in the hinterland of central China, is blocked, Liu Xie, who is directly in charge, will bear great pressure regardless of the final outcome of the treatment of the infectious disease, and may even be used by political opponents as a blemish for attacking.

  Liu Xie was able to give such a decisive order, which is not a big deal.

   A young man standing beside Liu Xie narrowed his eyes and hesitated a little. He was Liu Xie's nephew: Liu Yuanzhou. He is also the main member of Liu Xie's think tank, and the second-in-command of the city security department.

The    City Security Office is mainly responsible for the security security tasks of city leaders living and activities in the urban area, as well as the security tasks for the peripheral security of visiting important foreign guests.

   Being able to stand in such an important position, Liu Yuanzhou relies on more than just relationships.

   "Is it possible for infected patients to produce antibodies on their own? If there are antibody carriers in Yuanjiang City, effective serum should be easy to develop." Liu Yuanzhou raised a simple and crucial question with clear ideas.

"Theoretically speaking, it is possible." This time it was the president of the Second People's Hospital, who nodded and sighed, "But in reality, this probability is not high, and it is not very likely among tens of thousands of people. There is not necessarily one. Moreover, patients who go to the hospital are generally seriously ill and there is no possibility of self-producing antibodies, and patients who produce antibodies by themselves will naturally recover, and they may regard their previous cold as a common cold, and also I won't come to the hospital again, so how can we find it?"

"Check the medical records." Liu Yuanzhou said, "Everyone who comes to the hospital to see a doctor has a registration form. Pull out all the colds and check them one by one. Those who have similar symptoms and have not gone to any hospital for examination and treatment after the 24-hour incubation period are either dead. , or it may produce antibodies on its own."

"This...feasibility should not be high." The other party shook his head, "The workload is too much, there are too many uncertain factors, the most difficult thing is that we do not have the ability to quickly confirm whether the target carries effective antibodies, so everyone has to spend a long time. It is very likely that the patients who have developed antibodies have never been to the hospital at all! Just relying on the registration record, looking for a needle from the millions of people in the far river is like looking for a needle in a haystack.”

   "Then continue to narrow down the possible range through other means. For example, based on your professional knowledge, what age group is most likely to produce antibodies?" Liu Yuanzhou asked.

   "People between the ages of 16 and 40 have strong resistance, the cells and tissues in the body are full of vitality, and they are more likely to produce antibodies."

"Look!" Liu Yuanzhou said decisively, "Immediately set up a special professional team to conduct research to find effective screening methods. As long as someone produces antibodies on their own, no matter how difficult it is, they must be found! Yuanjiang millions of people's lives, It's all in our hands!"

Liu Xie was not displeased with Liu Yuanzhou's overreaching. Regardless of his nephew status, Liu Xie was a leader who used talents instead of cronyism. Sometimes he had to rely on the flexibility of these young people. and fighting spirit.

  …………

  In a small student apartment, Yang Xiaoqian, who lives in a small apartment, is still ignorant of this unprecedented pandemic. He is discussing with Yu Qian "seriously" how to save mankind.