Spy Wars: I am the Captain of the Military Police

Chapter 1073 Streptomycin!

Listening to Lingzi's explanation, even Zhou Zhengqing, who had heard it once before, had a distant gaze, as if he could see through the cold of the Tianjin winter night and see the brightly lit laboratories filled with sophisticated instruments on the subtropical island of Okinawa.

After receiving approval and resources from the lab director, they launched an ambitious program to conduct experiments on thousands of samples from around the world.

"This is a massive project, like finding a needle in a haystack." Lingzi continued her introduction: "The laboratory has invested enormous human and material resources. Researchers work day and night, processing soil samples from Okinawa, mainland Japan, China, and even Europe and America obtained through special channels."

They developed a complex screening model that co-cultured various bacteria with soil and observed whether bacterial growth was inhibited.

“The turning point came during a routine screening.” Reiko’s tone rose slightly, carrying an infectious quality as if she were telling a legendary story: “They observed that in a soil sample treatment group from ordinary farmland on Okinawa Island, the tuberculosis bacteria that had been growing tenaciously suddenly showed a large-scale, rapid death and dissolution phenomenon within just a few days.”

Under the microscope, those normally difficult-to-kill bacteria appear fragmented.

The subsequent work was focused and efficient.

The team isolated a gray, filamentous actinomycete from that magical soil.

Through repeated purification, culturing, and fermentation experiments, they extracted a novel active substance from the metabolites of this actinomycete, with a chemical structure completely different from that of penicillin.

In honor of its source, the genus *Streptomyces*, they named it... Streptomycin!

“Separation and purification are only the first step.” Reiko’s tone became extremely serious again, even with a sense of awe for life and science: “What follows is a long and careful process of verification.”

Animal experiments have shown that streptomycin has a clear protective and therapeutic effect on experimental tuberculosis infections, such as guinea pig tuberculosis models.

Subsequently, under extremely strict ethical review and control, the laboratory conducted trial treatment with very small doses on a small number of critically ill tuberculosis patients who had failed with sulfonamides and all existing therapies, and even penicillin could not control the disease.

Reiko took a deep breath and uttered the earth-shattering statement: "Preliminary, extremely limited but clearly targeted clinical observation data show that this streptomycin has a significant inhibitory and even killing effect on infections caused by Mycobacterium tuberculosis."

In some patients, symptoms such as fever, cough, and hemoptysis were relieved after medication, and the number of tuberculosis bacilli in sputum was significantly reduced.

Tuberculosis?!

Terauchi Hisaichi suddenly sprang up from his chair, the heavy wooden chair crashing onto the carpet with a dull thud.

The commander of the North China Area Army, who commanded hundreds of thousands of troops and remained unfazed even in the face of gunfire, now had all color drain from his face, his eyes wide open, filled with disbelief and shock. Beneath that shock, there was a deeper tremor of being touched by the most primal fear.

He even unconsciously took half a step forward, as if to get closer and see if the liquid in the ampoule was lying.

Prince Asaka Yasuhiko, though he did not stand up in a daze, was breathing rapidly and unsteadily, his chest heaving slightly, and his eyes, which had been as calm as a deep pool, were now filled with turbulent waves.

The remaining wine in the glass rippled violently due to the slight tremor of his hand.

Tuberculosis.

In this era, these three words are equivalent to a slow, painful, yet dignified death sentence; they are the "white plague" that people dread hearing about.

Unlike swords and spears that bring instantaneous death, it is like the most insidious termite, silently eroding a person's lungs and internal organs, causing them to exhaust their last bit of life force through persistent low-grade fever, night sweats, weight loss, and finally, excruciating coughing and hemoptysis.

It is highly contagious and can be spread through droplets, making it difficult to prevent.

Not only is it rampant in China, a country plagued by poverty and weakness and with a poor public health system, but it is also one of the leading causes of non-combat casualties and the destruction of the health of officers and soldiers in Japan, within the military, which believes itself to have superior sanitary conditions.

The dense living conditions in military camps and the harsh environment on the front lines are breeding grounds for the spread of tuberculosis.

Many promising young officers and talented staff officers did not fall on the front lines, but succumbed to tuberculosis on their sickbeds, coughing up their last breaths in despair.

For people of Terauchi Hisaichi's social class, such as Prince Yasuhiko, they might not be afraid of open or covert attacks on the battlefield, as they had guards, fortifications, and privileged protection.

However, for tuberculosis bacteria, which are invisible and intangible, and can invade the body through an unclean meal or a casual close conversation, they are just as vulnerable as ordinary people, and may even be at higher risk due to frequent contact with all sorts of people.

Their key associates, close family members, and other close associates may all carry or be infected with this disease.

Coming to China, a "tuberculosis epidemic area" in their minds, was itself seen as a health risk. In private, they had received countless tedious instructions from military doctors about preventing tuberculosis.

This deep-seated fear of the invisible plague was completely ignited by the news that "streptomycin may be effective."

Zhou Zhengqing took in the two people's intense, almost out-of-control reactions. His heart turned cold, but his face maintained a serious and honest expression.

He looked up, signaling Reiko to continue.

Reiko nodded, then nodded to the distraught Terauchi Hisashi and said, "Yes, tuberculosis."

This incurable disease, known as the "white plague," has consumed the efforts of countless medical elites, yet a truly effective treatment is still lacking.

Based on the extremely limited but unprecedented experimental data we currently have, streptomycin may be its nemesis.

“Of course.” Reiko’s tone suddenly changed, once again displaying that “scientific rationality,” slightly cooling down the newly ignited flame of hope: “I must emphasize again that this is still a highly experimental and exploratory result.”

Its long-term safety, its exact efficacy against different types of tuberculosis, the optimal treatment regimen, its side effects, and especially the possibility of large-scale industrial production, are all huge unknowns. What lies ahead is a treacherous peak even steeper than the challenge of mass-producing penicillin.

Reiko pointed to the mere ten ampoules in the box: "These ten samples are all the laboratory can provide at the moment. Every drop represents immeasurable effort and resources."

They were sent to me with the initial intention of allowing me to secretly seek out suitable, willing, and advanced-stage tuberculosis patients in North China whose conventional treatments had failed, for... further, strictly controlled efficacy verification and data collection.