Patient s Girlfriend Carrying a Deadly Infection Chicago Med MD TV

I'm fine. It's just a really bad cold. It's our first vacation together. Emergency room's not on the itinerary. Tum's a hundred point four. Sienna's barely a fever. God forbid he let on that he's sick. I've got a stubborn one also. Me too. Lymph nodes are enlarged. All right. I'm gonna have you open your mouth for me. He hasn't eaten in three days. Can barely sip water. Hurts that bad. Throat is pretty raw. Tonsils are swollen. Yellow exudate. What's that? Pus. Maybe an infection. See? We should have come yesterday. I'll get a rapid strep test. Let's get a CBC and BMP also. I'm sorry. I just wanted the trip to be perfect. And I just want you to be healthy. Hopefully we can solve both of your problems. I'll be back shortly. Hi, guys. So, Tommy, you do not have strep. But your body is most likely fighting off a bacterial infection. So I'm gonna start you on clindamycin, which is an oral antibiotic. Whatever the bug, it'll take care of that. So we can get out of here? Yes, but please just try to take it easy the next few days. As cliche as it is, rest is the best medicine. I won't let him leave the hotel. Promise. Ow! Are you okay? Why don't you let me take a look? Whoa, that's really red. You didn't feel anything? Uh-uh. Hot and fluctuant? Eye and ear. Yeah. I'm gonna make a small incision so that we can get a sample, okay? All right, and when I ask you to, I'm gonna have you take a deep breath and exhale for me, okay? All right, this is gonna hurt a little bit, all right? Take a deep breath in. Good. Good. And again. One last time. Great job. All right, here comes the incision. Oh. Is that what was in my throat? How did it get at his ankle? Let's just wait and see what the lab says. Bad news, though. You guys are gonna have to hang out here a little bit longer. I'm sorry. If you need anything, I'll be close by. Bacteria can travel once it enters the bloodstream, but for a new infection to manifest that fast... Yeah, something's definitely going on. Stay on the lab, okay? Yeah. Hannah. Oh, my God. Tommy? Help! Help! What's happening? Tub's up to 104. He's tacky. BP's 94 over 62. Septic shock. First dose of egg didn't work. Bolus a liter of normal saline and push IV Tylenol. Tommy, can you open your mouth for me? What are you looking for? Abscesses that weren't there earlier. Nothing dental, oral. Help me search his skin. Nothing on this side. Here, Arthur. Get a cooling blanket. He should be getting better, but he's only getting worse. Deja vu. I had pneumonia right after college. Spent two weeks in the hospital at Waukesha, Wisconsin. Let me guess. Same vending machines? It's amazing. Cafeteria makes a great smoothie. No, I want to stay close to Tommy. I'll find something. Hey. Hi. Tommy's latest labs. He doesn't have a staph infection. Vancomycin-resistant enterococcus. A superbug? Yeah, and one that is not easy to get. Theory's a nosocomial infection. It lives in hospitals. I don't think I've ever seen it contracted anywhere else. Hannah, she had pneumonia a decade ago. Was hospitalized for two weeks. Could have picked it up then and had it ever since. Asymptomatic carrier. Intimate relationship. Lots of ways she could have passed it on. Okay, let's start Tommy on ibulinizolid, swab Hannah's nose and throat for the bacteria, confirm she's the source. Got it. I got this from Hannah? How? I don't have a sore throat. No fever, aches, pains. I'm not sick. You don't have an active infection, but since your pneumonia, you've been contagious. For ten years? I work in an office, cross paths with dozens of people every day, not to mention boyfriends before Tommy. No one else has ever gotten sick. We're gonna run some tests and find out exactly what it is. Honey, I'm so sorry. It's not your fault. You had no idea. Besides, I'm feeling better. It means that these antibiotics are working, right? Yes. Put Anna on them. Kill whatever bug she's been dragging around the last ten years. Um, I'm afraid it's not that simple. You see, as a carrier, you're colonized with the bacteria, which means it lives in too many places in your body for the antibiotic to be effective. You mean I've got this forever? I'm afraid so. Then I could give it to Tommy again. With precautions, the risk of reinfection can't be reduced. This can't be happening. We can deal with it. We'll figure it out.