21st Century Necromancer

After a week, Qinzi's pathology analysis finally arrived in front of Chen Yu.

"Is this... a Hydatid cyst? Positive for Echinococcus IgG antibody?" Looking at the results of the pathology analysis, although he had already guessed it was a parasite, Chen Yu was still shocked by the conclusion.

Hydatid cysts, often causing a change of color upon hearing their name, are pork tapeworms which have an extremely wide infection range in China, spanning 27 provinces with approximately 2 to 3 million people infected. Hydatid disease is caused by the larvae of pork tapeworms parasitizing human tissues such as the brain and eyes.

The most common site of infestation is the brain, but they can also reside in subcutaneous tissue, muscles, and eyes, among other locations.

Tapeworms are a type of giant intestinal parasite, with the adult worms able to reach a length of 72 feet (21.9456 meters), leading entirely parasitic lives. Adult worms parasitize vertebrates, while the larvae mainly infest invertebrates or vertebrates as intermediate hosts. The larvae, or cysticerci, can live for up to a decade or longer. Once infested, they pose a serious threat to human health.

The only source of infection for hydatid disease is the human carrier of pork tapeworm disease. The worm eggs excreted in the feces of an infected person are contagious to the patient and those around them. Thus, humans are not only the definitive hosts for the tapeworm, but can also become intermediate hosts.

Contaminated food and self-infection can introduce the worm eggs into the human intestinal tract, where the oncospheres hatch, break through the intestinal wall, and enter the bloodstream, leading to hydatid disease in different parts of the body, most commonly the brain.

Due to the different numbers and locations of cysts invading the skull, as well as the varied growth and death of the cysts, the clinical symptoms of cerebral hydatid disease are complex and variable, with fluctuating conditions.

In a few cases, a large influx of cysts into the brain can cause a sudden onset of the disease, resulting in obvious mental and neurological disturbances, and even rapid death. Generally speaking, the neurological damage from cerebral hydatid disease depends on the mechanical effects of the cyst number and location, as well as the inflammatory and toxic reactions caused by the cysts.

Qinzi had only been parasitized in the spleen, not in the brain or intestines, which was incredibly fortunate. Given the number of eggs she was infected with, if they had hatched and infested her brain, it could have led to her death.

Looking at the pathology analysis report in his hands, Chen Yu couldn't help but break out in a cold sweat. He had learned about the dangers of hydatid disease back when he was in college in China.

A professor who specialized in infectious diseases had specifically talked about it, and to give them a more vivid impression, he had brought a tapeworm specimen and a stack of photos of various tapeworm infections to show them.

In particular, a photo of a patient with cerebral hydatid disease undergoing craniotomy had been especially spine-chilling to Chen Yu—the sight of the tapeworms eroding into the brain... It was enough to make his scalp tingle even now.

Shaking his head to dispel the hair-raising memories from his mind, Chen Yu stood up with the pathology report in hand, intending to go to the ward to hand it over to Qinzi.

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Qinzi's ward was a double room, a slight upgrade from the standard four-person ward, generally assigned by default to female patients. However, it seemed that there weren't enough female patients at the time, so Qinzi's room was currently occupied by her alone.

When Chen Yu arrived at Qinzi's ward, Jounouchi Hiromi was standing by the bed talking with Qinzi.

Although she had just had surgery, Qinzi was gradually recovering over the week and appeared to have good color in her face. Perhaps because the surgery had removed the lesion, her mood had relaxed, and right now Qinzi was not like before, crying and begging Chen Yu to save her, but instead, her face was full of smiles.

"Hiromi, are you here too?" Chen Yu greeted his girlfriend as he entered the ward and walked to the bedside to look at Qinzi, who was lying in the hospital bed. After glancing at the medical record at the head of the bed, he asked her, "How are you feeling today? Is there anything uncomfortable?"

"Thank you, Doctor Chen, I'm feeling much better today, but the wound is still a bit itchy," Qinzi thanked Chen Yu, obviously having a good impression of the doctor who saved her.

If Qinzi hadn't already known that Chen Yu had a girlfriend, who was the familiar Jounouchi Hiromi, she might have been moved by such a young, promising, and handsome man.

However, Qinzi clearly wasn't the type to covet someone else's boyfriend, especially since both Jounouchi Hiromi and Chen Yu had saved her, which made her even less likely to contemplate anything with Jounouchi Hiromi's boyfriend.

Chen Yu nodded, looking at the records on the medical chart, he said to Qinzi, "A week's time, the wound should still be healing. From the current look of it, the healing is good, you should almost be ready for the stitches to be removed."

"Thank you, Doctor Chen. Lying in the hospital for this period, I feel like I'm almost rusting away," Qinzi said, clearly delighted at the news that she would soon be discharged, since no one wants to stay in the hospital for a long time.

In response to Qinzi's words, Chen Yu couldn't agree more, because Qinzi probably couldn't leave the hospital for a while yet, as she still needed to stay for treatment of her cysticercosis infection.

With that thought, Chen Yu took out the pathology analysis report he had brought with him and said to Qinzi, "I'm afraid I can't discharge you just yet, because you were previously infected with cysticercosis. I must wait until you are completely recovered before letting you leave."Nôv(el)B\\jnn

"Cysticercosis? What kind of disease is that?" Qinzi clearly didn't understand what cysticercosis was, looking at Chen Yu with a puzzled face.

Jounouchi Hiromi was startled and looked at Chen Yu in amazement, seeking confirmation, "Mr. Chen Yu, are you sure? Is it really cysticercosis? Could it be a misdiagnosis?"

"The blood cysticercus IgG antibody is positive; I don't think such things are misdiagnosed. And you saw what was inside her spleen when we cut it open, didn't you? That's not something an ordinary parasite could cause," Chen Yu handed the pathology analysis report to Jounouchi Hiromi, then turned to Qinzi, lying on the hospital bed, "You're really lucky, it's just an infection in the spleen.

Usually, cysticercosis infects the brain, causing epilepsy or even brain death."

"Brain death?" Qinzi suddenly felt a chill, especially when Chen Yu mentioned the word "worm," she felt as if countless little worms were crawling on her body.

"Cysticercosis refers to the pork tapeworm, a giant intestinal parasite that can grow more than twenty meters long. How did you get infected with this?" Chen Yu looked at Qinzi, curious, "Did you have a habit of eating raw pork or something?"

"No... I swallowed the eggs... A few years ago, there was a fad of swallowing roundworm eggs to lose weight. I couldn't get roundworm eggs at that time, so I bought pork tapeworm... I thought it didn't work..." Qinzi now understood how she was infected and immediately felt full of regret and fright.