Surgery Godfather
Chapter 819 - 734: Super Bacteria

Chapter 819: Chapter 734: Super Bacteria

Even with antibiotic use based on experience, Lu Jiangbei’s high fever persisted, fluctuating up and down, solely reliant on antipyretic drugs and physical cooling methods to suppress the temperature. This indicated that the lung infection was not under control, rendering the empirically prescribed antibiotics ineffective.

Three days later, the results from the sputum culture were ready. Yang Ping opened his computer screen to display the test results: MRSA, a few English letters that stood out prominently.

MRSA—Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus, one of the superbugs.

These so-called superbugs exhibit resistance to almost all antibiotics due to genetic mutations, rendering them virtually invulnerable and impervious to the antibacterial effects of antibiotics.

Because of their high resistance, doctors have almost no weapons to use against these bacteria, making treatment very difficult.

To combat MRSA, the only option is vancomycin.

The antibiotic sensitivity test also showed that besides vancomycin, all other listed antibiotics were resistant.

’Such a troublesome little bugger,’ cursed Yang Ping internally!

The entire treatment process was extraordinarily arduous and fraught with setbacks. Any mistake could lead to wasted efforts.

Director Pan didn’t want to make this phone call, but there was no choice. Reality was reality, and it was exactly the feared circumstance; nearly all clinical doctors felt horrified when facing a superbug.

"Professor Yang—"

"I’ve already seen the report and am on my way now. Let’s meet up and discuss."

The brief exchange had concluded when Yang Ping once again rushed to the Trauma ICU. Since it was not in the same building, traveling back and forth also took some time.

By the time Yang Ping arrived, the temporary workers in the ICU, August and Robert, were already at the door to welcome him.

After swiping his card to open the door, Yang Ping headed straight for the Doctor’s Office.

By then, the office was packed with people: Director Pan, Doctor Zhou, the Head Nurse, as well as colleagues from the respiratory department, hospital infection department, laboratory department, and blood transfusion department.

The appearance of a superbug had everyone on high alert.

MRSA infection itself is not a contagious disease; however, as long as there is an infection by the pathogen, cross-contamination is possible.

If such a superbug spreads due to cross-contamination, the consequences could be severe.

When Yang Ping entered, everyone stood up as a sign of respect and Director Pan personally ushered Yang Ping into a seat.

"The patient has been moved to an isolation ward, and the follow-up chest X-rays show an increasing area of infection," announced Director Pan as he sat down, the first to speak.

The respiratory department director took a sip of water: "What should we do now?"

"What else can we do? Administer vancomycin! Xiao Zhou, use my user ID to order vancomycin, and administer it right away."

Director Pan cursed inwardly, although not at anyone in particular but at the bacteria. It had been a long time since he had dealt with such an unfortunate situation, and this time, he was hit.

Vancomycin, a novel antibiotic, is referred to as the ’nuclear bomb’ within antibiotics. As a last-resort medication, it’s not used unless absolutely necessary. It’s the doctors’ final weapon against infections.

The pioneering antibiotic was penicillin, which was hailed as a ’miracle drug’ in its day.

Since the advent of penicillin, humanity entered the age of antibiotics. Many bacterial infections, untreatable in the pre-antibiotic era, were effortlessly cured by penicillin, which was soon followed by various other antibiotics in clinical medicine.

If bacteria are the shield, then antibiotics are the spear.

There is naturally a struggle between the spear and the shield. Bacteria are clever, they won’t simply resign themselves to death. To survive, they devise ways to dodge the onslaught of antibiotics.

As the use of drugs has prolonged, bacteria have accumulated a wealth of experience in combating antibiotics. They pass these experiences down through generations, constantly refining their strategies and rendering some antibiotics ineffective.

This is how ’drug-resistant bacteria’ have emerged. These bacteria use various methods to neutralize the effects of antibiotics and ensure their survival.

The principle of survival of the fittest applies just as well to the world of bacteria. Drug-resistant bacteria survive and reproduce, while those lacking resistance perish from antibiotics, eventually becoming extinct.

Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) is among the elite of these drug-resistant bacteria and has earned the crown of a superbug.

Against this backdrop, scientists, striving to combat drug-resistant bacteria, had to invent new weapons, and so in 1972, the ’king of antibiotics’—vancomycin—was finally introduced into clinical use.

Vancomycin has been described as the nuclear weapon amongst antibiotics. Since its clinical introduction, it has been invincible, with no bacteria able to withstand it. For 16 years, it held an unbeatable track record—no resistant strains were reported.

However, in 1988, vancomycin’s pristine record was broken; that year saw the emergence of the first vancomycin-resistant strain, which was Enterococcus.

Since then, vancomycin began to struggle. In 2002, the first vancomycin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (VRSA) surfaced. While this bacteria is currently very rare, an infection with VRSA is often fatal.

Fortunately, the strain Lu Jiangbei was infected with was MRSA, not VRSA.

Even so, the MRSA was enough to be fatal to Lu Jiangbei, considering he was not just a patient with a lung infection. His entire body, including his limbs and torso, was paralyzed, with fractures in the pelvis and elsewhere due to severe blood loss, leading to severe anemia. His immune system was close to collapse.

If the lung infection could not be controlled in time, and a certain threshold was breached, respiratory failure would strike out of nowhere, and in the end, he’d have no choice but to slowly succumb while supported by ECMO.

Dr. Zhou left the meeting table at the verbal order of Director Pan and headed for the computer to enter the medical order. Once the decision was made, he didn’t want to waste a single second.