I Became a Plague Doctor in a Romance Fantasy Novel

Finally, Pasteur (1)

25th Episode. Finally, Pasteur (1)

Today is another day in the clinic. Fortunately, there aren’t many inpatients. Only a few patients with pneumonia and colds were lying down.

On the other hand, there were quite a few outpatient consultations.

“I’m Liselotte.”

The first impression of the patient… Well, it’s a bit like that. There are a few things you can tell from the patient’s complexion and the way they walk in.

First of all, today’s patient seems to be a female student from the academy. Her steps are a bit wobbly, but not to the point of falling.

She had blonde hair mixed with brown, and her eyes were brown mixed with red. Her hair was twisted and pinned to the side of her head.

It looked like Princess Leia’s hairstyle from Star Wars, or maybe a Western-style Pucca hairstyle.

Whether it was intentional or just overlooked, two strands of hair were hanging long down her back, between the tied-up hair on both sides.

That’s about her appearance. There could be various reasons for her wobbly steps.

Dehydration, not eating, fatigue, or just being naturally odd. There’s also the possibility of leg discomfort, but it doesn’t seem like it.

Judging by her expression as she walked into the clinic, it’s probably a condition that affects her daily life. Her face looked dark and tired.

It’s different from simply being worried or sick.

At first glance, this is what you can tell.

“Yes, please go ahead.”

“I’ve been feeling nauseous for a few days now, and it’s hard to walk around. When I get up from my seat, I feel dizzy, but it gets a bit better after a few minutes.”

There are a few possible diagnoses that come to mind.

Dizziness is a common symptom, but it’s not something to be taken lightly. It has a significant impact on the patient’s daily life and could potentially lead to neurological or brain issues.

“Open your eyes wide.”

The first thing to check is nystagmus.

We need to see if the eyes are twitching. Spontaneous nystagmus could be a sign of serious issues like a brain tumor. Well, let’s see.

No eye twitching.

“When did you say you feel dizzy?”

“When I get up from sitting.”

“Is it when your head moves that you feel dizzy?”

The human head usually makes fine adjustments to maintain a horizontal position.

This is not a conscious process. It happens automatically through the cerebellum and other pathways.

When you lie down or turn your head, the brain recognizes this and makes corrections.

Dizziness due to changes in posture. There can be various causes like otitis media, but the most representative is benign paroxysmal positional vertigo.

To put it simply.

It means sudden dizziness depending on the posture. Benign means there are no other serious issues.

Let’s finish the neurological examination for now.

“Don’t move your head, just follow my finger with your eyes. Yes, good.”

There’s nothing particularly visible.

“Uh, is it a serious illness?”

“I don’t think so.”

It’s not a serious illness. Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo is, as the name suggests, benign. It’s not a disease that will kill you or cause significant harm to your body.

There’s no medication. Instead, it can be cured by shaking your head in a certain order. Positional vertigo is caused by a stone connected to the sensory nerves in the inner ear that has moved out of place.

This maneuver is called the Epley maneuver.

“Please sit on the examination room bed.”

“Why?”

“To confirm the diagnosis. The most likely condition is something called BPPV. It’s a disease where a stone in your ear can’t find its place and rolls around, causing dizziness.”

Liselotte looked at me.

“Does that make sense?”

“Yes.”

“Are there originally stones in the ear?”

She looks skeptical.

Well, if you don’t know anything about the internal structure of the ear, that reaction is understandable. How should I explain it?

“I dissected it and found it.”

“Ah.”

Liselotte nodded.

Of course, if you dissect a person (a donated cadaver), you can see the cochlea inside the ear. There’s a small stone in there.

“How should I do it?”

Dix-Hallpike test. I don’t know why it’s called that. Are they Nordic people? Is it two names combined?

Anyway.

This is the differential diagnosis test for BPPV.

“First, turn your head to the dizzy side. Then lie back in that position. I’ll hold your head, so relax.”

Liselotte did as I instructed.

If it’s positional vertigo, nystagmus should start by now. I checked Liselotte’s pupils. Her right pupil is definitely shaking. Can you see well?

“Close your left eye. How does it look?”

“Well, it’s just a bit blurry.”

Aha. Interesting.

Even while nystagmus is ongoing, the patient doesn’t feel their eyes shaking? It’s just a bit uncomfortable or blurry.

“You can sit up again.”

Now it’s time to explain.

“So, what disease is it?”

“The conclusion is out. The diagnosis is ‘Benign Paroxysmal Positional Vertigo.’ What kind of disease is it-“

“Positional? I didn’t do that.”

“…”

Is she an idiot?

“Posture… I mean. You said you get dizzy depending on your posture. Dizziness occurs depending on the position of your body…”

*Sigh*.

I turned my head slightly to suppress a chuckle. Lieselotte blushed.

“Ah. I, I’m sorry.”

“There is an issue with the organ that maintains the balance of the head, causing a discrepancy between the actual position of the head and the position perceived by the brain. There is no medication for this, but adjusting your head properly will help the stones settle back into place.”

“Yes.”

“Please sit down again.”

Lieselotte sat back on the bed.

“We will start the Epley maneuver. Turn your head about 45 degrees to the right. Yes. Now, quickly lie back with your head still turned. I’ll support the back of your head. Wait for 30 seconds.”

The first step is done.

“Turn your head 90 degrees to the left. You should be looking 45 degrees to the left. Again, wait for 30 seconds.”

The second step.

“This time, turn completely to your left side. You need to wait for 30 seconds in this position as well.”

With this, the third step is done.

Lieselotte stood up.

“Are you still dizzy?”

“Uh, not really.”

I wonder if it’s resolved. It might come back soon. Dizziness is a condition that, once it occurs, tends to recur.

But it’s better than unexplained migraines or dizziness. What if we had found a brain tumor? We can’t perform brain surgery here.

“If it becomes severe, you can take medication, but it’s not a fundamental solution. If it recurs, try what we just did again, and if it doesn’t work, come back.”

“Thank you.”

Lieselotte bowed her head in gratitude.

Again, the laboratory.

Let’s review one last time.

How many times have we mentioned Pasteur’s experiment in the past few days? But there was a lack of time, resources, and academic interest.

We’ve already published three papers, including Istina’s. The academic community must be getting tired of it. We should have waited a bit before publishing.

“Istina. Pasteur.”

You’ve probably heard about Pasteur so much that your ears are calloused. I’ve been reciting it to you like a mantra. By now, you must have memorized it.

Istina cleared her throat.

“Pasteur’s experiment disproved the hypothesis that maggots and mold spontaneously generate from organic matter, and established the principle that life only comes from life. It experimentally demonstrated that sterilized organic matter does not decay until it comes into contact with particles in the external air. The process of the experiment is-“

Long, too long.

“Well done.”

You know it for sure. I pointed to the swan-neck flask in one corner of the laboratory. Istina turned her gaze.

“That experiment. Can we do it now?”

“Istina. Think a little.”

“Oh, what should I think about…?”

My laboratory uses culture media quite often.

It’s rare for bacterial colonies to form in new culture media. I can’t say it never happens, but that’s due to poor hygiene management or bacteria that somehow survived the boiling process.

Istina blinked.

“We often make culture media in the lab. We boil the culture solution to sterilize it, right? Until the culture solution is exposed to air after boiling, nothing grows in it.”

Istina nodded.

“Ah. Now that I think about it, you’re right.”

“It’s because of the bacteria.”

“Bacteria die when boiled, right?”

That’s correct. Although there are some bacteria that don’t die, the number is what’s important.

“When you boil the culture medium, all the bacteria inside die, and until we open the lid and intentionally culture it, no bacteria grow.”

After boiling, even if you just touch the sealed and cooled culture medium with your fingertip, bacteria will grow. Before that, nothing grows. It’s no different from a miniature version of Pasteur’s experiment.

“In fact, this experiment is also for showing others. We already know, right? We use that principle when using the culture medium.”

Istina sighed.

“This is really… difficult.”

“The experiment itself is simple.”

The preparations were complete. Now, all that was left was to run away with Pasteur’s experiment and paper.