Silent Hill fic: Outbreak - Chapter 7: Epidemiological Report (cont.)

[mistressofmuses]

In chapter 7: Anna continues her epidemiological report, covering the dates in which the first deaths occurred. She notes the progression of symptoms, and a blog where people were discouraging seeking treatment.

Anna Garcia’s Epidemiological report on unknown illness (cont.)

Sunday, September 11, 2016
Official death toll: 3

The first fatalities occurred less than 24 hours after the outbreak’s official start. The three deaths were Steven Chase (age 9), Collyn Mores (age 11), and Megan Semmler (age 12).

Unsurprisingly, this led to the first media attention this illness received, though it was certainly not the last. The Toluca Times ran an article noting what little was known at the time.

[Reports of illness at Alchemilla: 3 children dead (printed in the September 11 edition of The Toluca Times.)
by Aaron Green

Tragic news was released this morning, as among a rash of nearly 100 hospitalizations, three young children have died. The names of the children have not been released to the public, but all were students at Midwich Elementary.

The three children were all taken to Alchemilla hospital late last night, with a range of symptoms, including blisters on the skin and difficulty breathing. All were admitted for treatment, but passed away early this morning, despite doctors’ efforts. More than 60 patients under the age of 18 remain hospitalized, many in intensive care.

A spokesperson for the hospital stated that they are taking precautions related to an outbreak of an illness, though they were not able to tell us any more specifics. They have advised anyone experiencing severe symptoms to seek medical treatment immediately. They also want to stress the importance of practicing good hygiene, and avoiding contact with others if you are sick.

Check the Toluca Times website for additional information as it becomes available.]

The fact that the hospital could not name the illness that the children had fallen victim to was less than ideal, to put it lightly. Some felt that the hospital should have avoided making any statements until they could at least identify what was responsible for the deaths. For obvious reasons, that would not have been possible.

At the time it set off what could be termed a minor panic. For the most part this could be termed beneficial in the long run, as many people elected to remain home, which may have saved them from exposure. However, it also led to things like temporary shortages of bottled water and non-perishable foods, as well as cleaning products. Doctors offices and urgent care clinics were all but swarmed by people concerned about being infected, many demanding diagnostic tests that did not (and still do not) exist.

One other place that saw an increase in the number of visitors was churches. While it has long been recognized that those who are sick can find comfort and even a sense of relief from their faith communities, those gatherings can be new transmission points as well.

A couple faith communities in the town (the Balkan Church and the Redemption of Faith communities, notably) held vigils for the children who fell victim to the illness, while almost all at least prayed for ill members of the congregation.

Hospitalizations continued, and Alchemilla’s resources were further strained. Additional ICUs were set up in other patient wards, and patients were doubled or even tripled up in rooms in most cases.

Symptoms continued to escalate, skewing more toward respiratory. While nosebleeds had already been commonly noted, bleeding of mucus membranes worsened significantly, especially bleeding into the lungs. This rapidly progressed to pneumonia in many victims, accompanied by worsening cough. In combination, this frequently resulted in hemoptysis (coughing up blood.)

Various respiratory ailments, including tuberculosis and pneumonic plague were tested for, though no tests produced positive results.

Lacking any definitive diagnosis, treatments remained mainly supportive, trying to manage the symptoms in the hopes of improving prognosis.

Monday, September 12, 2016
Official death toll: 6

Fatalities continued, still among young children. Three more died over the course of the day on September 12: Genivieve Michelin (age 7), Christopher Park (age 9), and Allie Combs (age 10).

While most individuals who were symptomatic in any way reported to doctors, there were some who did not choose to seek any medical assistance. While I recognize that this is a choice that people are allowed to make for themselves, I can never condone refusing to seek treatment or aid for a child.

A post on a popular local “mommy blog” by a user calling herself “Midwich Mama” spoke of the illness her son was suffering and her desire not to allow him to be seen by a doctor. She instead asked her followers for advice on home treatment.

[Graeson is sick :(
posted on the blog “Never A Silent Moment” by “Midwich Mama” on September 12, 2016 at 8:52 am:

Graeson has had the chickenpox for several days now, and he just isn’t getting much better. I heard about the deaths over the last couple days in the hospital: one of those children was in Graeson’s class at school! My heart is just broken for her family.

I know it would be a bad idea to take Graeson in to the hospital: it’s obvious the doctors aren’t able to do anything! I’m sure those children must have had something more severe than just chickenpox, anyway. I just don’t know what else to do for my poor little man… he’s been coughing up a storm, and his itchy spots are starting to hurt more and more. My poor little guy is so miserable. His spots have gotten so much bigger in the last day or so, and they hurt. It’s like several of them forming together to turn into big blisters.

I’ve been giving him oatmeal baths, but it just doesn’t seem to be helping enough. I’ve also been making him drink that garlic and honey tea that was recommended as a natural antibiotic. (Thank you, to those of you who mentioned it before!)

So what else is an all-natural mama supposed to do? Any advice from all my wonderful followers? I’d love to hear any other natural remedies you all might know!]

Her post garnered many replies, some of which I will transcribe below. (I will attempt to preserve the comment threading where possible. I have not transcribed comments that were simply saying “hope he gets well soon” and similar sentiments. I also have not transcribed several comments that were clearly spam.)

[All below comments were posted on the “Never a Silent Moment” blog post “Graeson is Sick :(“ on September 12, 2016:

By annalee83 at 9:12 am:
Aw, poor guy!! So sorry he’s feeling under the weather! You could try putting chamomile in with the oatmeal baths! It might help. But whatever you do DON’T take him to a doctor!!! We all know that they’ll push you to give him some kind of drug, and that’s just going to make everything worse!!

By MidwichMama at 9:21 am:
Thanks for the suggestion! I’ll try that during his next bath!

By saintparade at 9:19 am:
Poor Graeson. Just curious, have u ever tried turpentine? My naturopath recommended it for Lilly when she kept getting those bad coughs. He said that almost all of our so-called illnesses are really caused by parasites! Turpentine can get rid of all the parasites they put in our food to make us sick…

By MidwichMama at 9:24 am:
I haven’t heard of that, about the parasites! But isn’t that paint remover or something like that?

By saintparade at 9:46 am:
Turpentine is just made from pine sap – it’s one of nature’s medicines!

By MidwichMama at 10:03 am:
Wow! I’ll add that to my list of things to do some research on. Thank you for the suggestion!

By x-butterly-x at 9:35 am:
I know this isn’t what you want to hear, but you really should take him to a doctor. I don’t want something bad to happen to him that could have been prevented! Especially if kids are dying!

By MidwichMama at 9:38 am:
Please respect my decisions when it comes to MY OWN CHILD. I already said that I have no intention of taking him to a so-called professional who will want to give him some chemical cocktail.

By x-butterfly-x at 9:40 am:
You asked for advice, and that’s the only good advice you’ll get. Do what you want, but I really hope it isn’t Graeson who winds up suffering.

By mommy2two at 10:39 am:
Are you some kind of big pharma shill? Do they pay you to try and force kids to get vaccinated or something? This is a blog for NATURAL parenting, so I suggest you take your brainwashed happy sheeple nonsense elsewhere. Shame no one will arrest you for child abuse, considering how you must raise your kids!

By x-butterfly-x at 11:37 am:
That’s extremely uncalled for!

By HolyWomanFaith at 10:12 am:
I will pray for your son today. God will take care of him if you are faithful. Remember that She cares for all Her followers. Illness and injury are merely ways through which our faith is tested; God longs to bring us into Paradise, but we must believe if we are to be granted that eternity. May the gods and angels watch over your little boy during his time of sacrifice. He will be made new in the love of God and all She promises us.

By MidwichMama at 10:22 am:
Thank you for the thoughts and prayers. I’m sure he’ll come through just fine.

By free-and-clean-living at 10:17 am:
Have you ever done food testing for Graeson? I bet he’s allergic to gluten! Or maybe he reacts badly to GMOs? Try feeding him a gluten-free, raw vegan diet for a few weeks, and I bet his symptoms will clear right up!

By MidwichMama at 10:23 am:
That’s a good idea! If he’s allergic to something it makes sense that it would keep him from getting better, or maybe make his symptoms worse… I’ve got some meal planning to do!

By free-and-clean-living at 11:53 am:
The sooner the better!

By mommy2two at 10:42 am:
Has Graeson ever gotten vaccinated?

By MidwichMama at 10:45 am:
No, he never got a chickenpox shot.

By mommy2two at 10:51 am:
I meant at all.

By MidwichMama at 10:53 am:
He got a couple at the hospital as a baby before I decided I didn’t want to expose him to those chemicals anymore.

By mommy2two at 10:56 am:
I bet that’s why! It’s good you made the right choice to stop exposing him to those toxins, but even getting ONE shot as a baby can poison a child! It’s not your fault; I’m sure you didn’t know at the time; too few do. But it’s actually a GOOD thing this is happening now. It’s his body just naturally purging the toxins. It’s one symptom of vaccine injury. Don’t worry, his body knows what’s best for him, and will get rid of all that nasty poison that was left inside him, and he’ll be better than ever as soon as it runs its course. For now just let it happen, as hard as it is!

By MidwichMama at 11:20 am:
Thank you for that! It puts me at ease to know it’s his body protecting him, even if it’s scary right now.]

The comments continue on in the same pseudo-scientific vein for several more pages, with most other comments expressing similar convictions. I assume anyone reading my report is well enough versed in medicine and science to realize that most of the above suggestions are completely wrong. At best they are terribly misinformed, and at worst could be extremely dangerous. (NEVER orally ingest turpentine, for instance. Or force a child onto a restrictive diet without consulting a dietician.) Not to mention the inherent danger in the type of anti-vax mentality that was already seen with the “pox party” from a few days before this.

While this illness has not been solved by modern medicine, the answer is not to reject medical care and allow a child to suffer when he could be receiving supportive care.

One of the symptoms described in the original post was “It’s like several [spots] forming together to turn into big blisters.” This is an especially horrific symptom that seems to have presented early in Graeson: Confluent blisters.

Confluent blisters are mainly seen in atypical smallpox cases, where the sores would not scab over, but would instead merge into sheets. This could even begin to detach the victim’s skin from their flesh, leading to further complications, and an over 60% fatality rate in smallpox cases in which this symptom was present.

Horrifyingly, this proved to be a symptom of the disease responsible for this outbreak as well, though it was not yet commonly appearing. From a purely editorial standpoint, it pains me to think of a child suffering this agonizing symptom without even the meager aid that the hospital was able to provide.

At this point, the staff at Alchemilla was largely providing supportive treatment: rehydration and respiratory therapies to mitigate symptoms, as well as painkillers and sedatives to reduce distress.

Use of broad-scale antibiotics and antiviral treatments were proposed, but shut down at this point. Without an indication of the source of infection, the potential risks were still too great to make that a comfortable choice, even if patients would have been willing to volunteer.

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[Formatting the html in this one was the worst. Also, writing the blog comments about "alternative" treatments made me feel dirtier than anything else I have ever written.]

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