Unseen Threats Among Us: A Novel

By L. W. Lawrence

Two university pre-med students learned the importance of faculty researchers working with government agencies to develop strategies to defeat an unseen enemy. Looming on the horizon of statistical probability was a pandemic that would devastate mankind. To address the global threat, advisory committees of the most knowledgeable scientists and healthcare providers were recruited to combat viruses, bacteria, and fungi that were evolving to prey on the most vulnerable patients in healthcare institutions. It was imperative that they identify common factors and destroy the unseen threats among us.

• Language: English
• Publisher: L. W. Lawrence
• Release date: Jun 8, 2019
• ISBN: 9781370984695

Book preview

Inundated with climatological tragedies, Federal and State agencies were stretched beyond resources. Media flashed images of destruction from tornadoes, hurricanes, floods, landslides, wildfires, and volcanic activity. What was not so simple to show or explain were increasing deaths from killer bacteria, viruses, and fungi that were mutating at faster rates than scientists could identify and contain. Requests for more resources to control the quiet epidemic were met with competing needs from other disasters. For the sake of appearances, funding went to visually catastrophic events before threats that lay persons could not see or understand.

Yet, in government and university laboratories, there were mounting concerns about microscopic enemies that could devastate the human race. International teams of scientists monitored bacterial, viral, and fungi mutations and shared data constantly to stay ahead.

As healthcare professionals treated patients, data scientists studied common variables among those who succumbed. Evidence indicated that by the time patients sought treatment for what they thought was a common cold, they were too late for traditional medication therapy. Those with compromised immune systems were more likely to develop complications such as bacterial infections that were resistant to common antibiotics.

Looming on the horizon of statistical probability was a pandemic that would devastate mankind. To combat the global threat, advisory committees of the most knowledgeable scientists and healthcare providers were organized to develop strategies. Data scientists and analysts were recruited to develop algorithms to associate effective therapy with recovery.

In a war against an unseen enemy, government and university researchers worked assiduously to combat an evolving enemy that lived within institutions designed to provide healthcare. It was imperative that they identify common factors and destroy unseen threats among us.

Chapter One

The emergency operator couldn’t answer fast enough for the daughter of the woman lying motionless in her bed. Eyes closed and faintly breathing, Erica was nonresponsive to her daughter’s voice.

Momma, can you hear me? A faint squeeze of her hand let Ansley know that her mother could hear and understand her. Ansley knew her mother had not been feeling well but she never expected to find her like this. She looked around the room for clues about medications and anything that could explain her mother’s condition.

Ansley followed instructions given by the emergency operator until she heard sirens and a knock on the door. When she opened the door, two men wearing masks and gloves verified her name and her mother’s name as they quickly entered her mother’s bedroom to assess her condition. While the older EMT checked her mother’s vital signs, the younger man went back to the door to retrieve a gurney. After they carefully lifted her mother and secured her to the gurney, the older man turned and handed Ansley a form to sign and instructed her to meet them at the emergency entrance of University Hospital.

As Ansley watched the men, she thought she recognized the younger man as a fellow student in her university chemistry class. She didn’t know his name but noted his calm and reassuring demeanor as he performed his duties with professional precision. Considering he was a student colleague, she wondered about his background and obvious experience as he asked about allergies and medications. Ansley quickly recalled everything she thought could be beneficial.

After watching her mother being loaded into the ambulance, Ansley quickly grabbed her mother’s purse and drove as fast as she could in the weather conditions. It had snowed for the first time in years and black ice was covering most roads. The ambulance was going cautiously slow so she was able to catch up until she stopped for a red light that the ambulance went through. After she stopped, she wished she had been braver and barreled through the intersection in the wake of the ambulance. While she sat at the red light, she grabbed her phone from her purse and called her dad.

What’s up honey? Hope it’s not another bug emergency in your dorm room. Her father’s laughter was initially comforting until she explained why she was calling. It was her first opportunity to tell her father what was happening. She explained enough to keep her father from driving too swiftly and possibly wrecking. She told him that she’d meet him at the hospital and quickly ended the call to focus on her driving.

Ansley parked as close as possible to the emergency department and quickly made her way through two sets of sliding doors until she reached a locked door. She pressed the intercom button and explained that her mom had just been brought in by ambulance. The doors opened and Ansley made her way through the corridor looking for her mother.

Are you with Erica Jacobs? A voice from behind a sliding glass stopped her.

Yes, that’s my mom.

Okay, please have a seat. I need to get some information from you.

Ansley sat down and looked through her mother’s purse for insurance and identification information. Within minutes, her father ran through the door. They were quickly greeted by staff who took them to a room to complete admissions paperwork. Ansley was annoyed with the diversion and asked her father to answer questions while she looked for her mother. She handed him her mother’s purse and stood as a lady in blue scrubs intercepted her and asked her to remain seated while she checked on her mother. Ansley watched as the nurse disappeared through another set of doors that required a security badge to enter.

Ansley turned to her father and held his hands in hers. What was mother like this morning when you left for work? How long has she been sick?

Her father lowered his head trying to remember anything out of the ordinary but finally looked at Ansley and shook his head. No, she didn’t say or do anything differently than she’s done since she’s been sick. She hasn’t been out of bed much all week.

He lowered his head again frustrated that he hadn’t paid more attention to the events of the morning. Being married for thirty years had desensitized him to a place beyond routine. He could recall few details of his wife’s condition. He knew she had been feeling ill all week and had been to see a doctor who gave her a shot and a prescription for medication to battle the flu. His only reaction had been to keep a safe distance from her, fill the house with antibacterial spray, and wash his hands often. He felt like he had gone beyond the call of duty when he stopped by a grocery store and bought items on a list she text him. He felt like a hero when he reluctantly agreed to unbag the items when he got home. He had no idea his wife was in such bad condition.

Dad. Ansley saw the sadness and concern in her father’s eyes and was wondering if he was getting sick too. Are you okay?

Yes honey. I’m trying to recall things your mom said the past few days that I should have picked up on. I assumed she would get better after she saw the doctor and started taking her medication. I thought it was just the flu.

Just the flu is an understatement. Dr. Allen’s deep voice rang from behind Ansley’s head. Ansley and her father turned and saw a tall man in a white coat with reddish-gray hair walking toward them. They both stood knowing that he was coming with news.

Are you Mr. Jacobs? The doctor asked while sticking both hands in his pockets.

Yes, I’m Henry Jacobs and this is my daughter Ansley. Henry stuck out his hand to shake the doctor’s hand in compliance with gentlemanly traditions.

Dr. Allen looked down at the extended hand and smiled at the gesture. Please forgive me if I don’t shake your hand. It’s a common way for germs to be transmitted from one person to another. Trust me, you don’t want to shake my hand.

Dr. Allen looked around and grabbed a chair pulling it close but not too close to their chairs. He seemed relieved to have a few moments to rest his legs. His eyes were blood-shot, and his skin was pasty white. The only feature that kept him from looking like a patient was his occasional smile and deep commanding voice.

The emergency physician contacted me as soon as he finished his assessment. I’m an infectious disease physician and handle cases like this. We’re doing bloodwork and will have to keep Mrs. Jacobs for monitoring and possible isolation.

The last word took Ansley and her father by surprise.

Isolation, Ansley blurted.

I’m afraid so. There’s a strain of this year’s flu that is not responding to our traditional treatments. We have to monitor patients closely. Because their immune systems are compromised, they are subject to other infections. Sometimes the outcome is not good.

Dr. Allen looked around the emergency department and then back at Ansley and her father. We’re quickly reaching capacity here so we’re arranging to transport all isolation patients to another wing of the hospital where we can limit exposure.

Dr. Allen abruptly stopped talking realizing that he shouldn’t say more. His instructions to collect as much data as possible from affected persons was not something family members should hear. Research scientists needed information to determine why this strain of influenza was resistant to vaccines and traditional treatments. Short-term, they needed to contain the spread and protect vulnerable populations. Long-term, they needed to isolate and study the mutation before it became unmanageable with vaccines.

Ansley was waiting for Dr. Allen to continue. She wanted to know what they were up against. As a pre-med student, she knew enough to ask questions.

So, all of these patients are going to be in isolation?

Dr. Allen quickly corrected himself. No, only cases that are of the resistant strain. Approximately eighty percent of our patients have what I refer to as common flu that responds to common treatments. The resistant strain is something that we need to study, but most importantly we need to understand why this virus is deadly for some.

As soon as Dr. Allen said the last words, he knew he had gone too far. He normally wouldn’t say that to the family of a patient, but he was extremely tired and not thinking clearly. Between taking care of patients and collecting data to send to the government, he was beyond exhausted. He knew that he needed to contain his information sharing based on the last government update. Public panic would flood the healthcare system and make it more chaotic than it already was.

Dr. Allen blinked his eyes a few times and refocused on his conversation with Mr. Jacobs. Your wife will be fine. Please go home and log into our patient portal. There will be no exposure to you beyond that. Her patient status will be updated every four hours.

Ansley was studying Dr. Allen’s transformation from being a concerned physician to a robotic message machine. She knew there was much more that he wasn’t saying because he couldn’t. As she listened to Dr. Allen talk, she remembered her healthcare administration professor’s discussion about connecting what happened at the individual patient level to what happened at the global level. She knew there were much bigger issues at work than her mother’s condition and that government agencies were involved.

Not wanting to cause her father additional concern, she looked at Dr. Allen with a talk to you later face and escorted her father from the emergency department. As they walked away, she turned and looked over her shoulder at Dr. Allen who stood frozen in place watching them and wondering how much longer he could continue discounting the seriousness of influenza cases.

Chapter Two

Later, as Dr. Allen sat in his office looking over the latest government updates, he thought about numerous encounters with patients’ families. He had relieved their immediate concerns without revealing that they may never see their loved ones again. His most recent encounter with the Jacobs family left him numb. He said too much and left Mrs. Jacobs’ daughter concerned. He wondered how much longer he could continue to dilute the severity of their worry. He reminded himself that it was for the common good.

Dr. Allen, line one. The sharp voice of the department secretary interrupted his thoughts. He needed to refocus, and if the last five calls were any indication, he would be engrossed in the next emergency and his current state of disillusionment and exhaustion would be forgotten.

This is Dr. Allen.

The voice of his mentor echoed through the line.

Dr. Allen, Dr. Granger here.

Yes sir. Kyle loved that his friend and mentor always started their conversations with formal introductions, which was protocol. He also realized that conversations were most likely being monitored.

Dr. Allen, it seems that your initial theory is proving to be true. We’re not dealing with an antigenic drift. Data are supporting an antigenic shift that is presenting across the globe as a pandemic. This year’s vaccine is effective for our classic influenza cases we anticipated, but it’s not preventing this strain which is resistant to antivirals. True, eighty percent, as you suggested, are classic influenza. However, there are mounting numbers of this strain.

Listening to Dr. Granger restate his initial hypothesis that he shared during the last interagency conference call irritated Kyle at first, but he knew that there could be no room for assumptions.

"I’m glad to know the agency agrees with my hypothesis. I’ve continued to collect data