Posted by Lieutenant Greve Shaidi (Chief Medical Officer) in Main sim-Science Lab (Tag Medical)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Draddok Ahearn (Chief Science Officer) in Main sim-Science Lab (Tag Medical)

Posted by Lieutenant Junior Grade Draddok Ahearn (Chief Science Officer) in Main sim-Science Lab (Tag Medical)
Posted by… suppressed (22) by the Post Ghost! 👻
OOC: Not quite sure where Ahearn is currently in the main sim. . . .

IC: Ahearn’s comm badge chirped with an incoming call from the Bridge.

=^=Lt. Ahearn, Mr. Petrov is beaming over an air sample from de sta-SHON in a containment vessel. Analyze de sample for any bacteria. Compare you’ findines wit’ de medical scans of de away teams.=^=

Boudreaux (CO)

OOC: Neither am I, thus my being quiet in that aspect.

IC: =/\= Understood, Captain. Please have Medical send any scan data they have and I will analyze the sample and compare for similarities. =/\= and he began setting up the analysis equipment to scan the sample.

Ahearn, CSO

OOC: I’m going to substitute “air” for “blood”

A blood sample appeared under a forcefield for Ahearn’s inspection. From the blood sample, there was a foreign entity – a bacterial infection. And it was airborne.

GM

Ahearn scowled. He immediately began running a DNA model and comparing it to known strains from the database. As he did, he tapped his commbadge. =/\= Ahearn to Bridge. I have identified a bacteriological contaminant in the sample. It appears to be airborne. Until we know more, I recommend isolating all personnel who were on the station. I’m locking down the Lab now. =/\= and he executed the Lab lock down. Thankfully, he was in the lab alone. Immediately, an alarm sounded and the doors locked, capable of being overridden only by himself and the Captain. Containment fields sprang into place across the ventilation systems, and Ahearn tagged the sample as ‘unknown biological contaminent’ in the computer. This would activate safety protocols throughout the ship, and the computer would begin internal scans and try to find any sign of the bacteria. He then tapped his commbadge again. =/\= Ahearn to Voq. Report to the bridge and coordinate Science response and section cooperation with Medical from there. As I get data, I will send it directly to you and the CMO. =/\=

Ahearn, CSO

The computer scan returned that the bacteria seemed to be a historical ancestor to one that the Voyager EMH encountered… But it was different. The computer had tracked the away team members and the ones who didn’t use the transporters already had trafficed through critical sections of the ship, it was likely the bacteria was all over the ship.

GM

The voice of the CSO came through the comms. =/\= Ahearn to Bridge. I have identified a bacteriological contaminant in the sample. It appears to be airborne. Until we know more, I recommend isolating all personnel who were on the station. I’m locking down the Lab now. =/\=

Ahearn, CSO

Remy breathed a sigh of relief. =^=Merci, Mr. Ahearn. At least now, we ‘ave a direc-SHON to ‘ead into. Isolatine de personnel might be a problem. Dose six ‘ave been all over de ship. Is it possible dis same contaminant caused the changes to de crew dat came through de transporter?=^=

=^=As soon as you can figure out what it is, send de results to life support. See if dey can filter it out of de ventila-SHON system. I also want you to work on an antidote.=^=

Boudreaux (CO)

=/\= Aye. I’m already doing that. I’ll need assistance from Medical.=/\= he replied. It irritated him that the Captain would direct him to try and find an antidote… although ‘antibiotic’ would have been a more appropriate term. Without waiting for a reply form the bridge, he contacted the CMO. =/\= Ahearn to Lt. Shaidi. I need you in the Lab as soon as possible. I have isolated the bacteriological agent. I will need your help in synthesizing an appropriate antibiotic. =/\= he said, his Irish accent conveying irritation and concern.

Ahearn, CSO

bump

=/\=On my way, Lieutenant.=/\=

Shaidi didn’t need to be told twice. Dropping what she had been doing, she quickly left the bay and headed directly for the labs. Within minutes, she stepped into the labs, scanning for the opposing Orion. Catching sight of Ahearn, wherever he happened to be, she steadily approached, wasting no time in getting to the point.

“What have you found, Lieutenant?” She inquired, narrowing her eyes in consideration to the man and his discoveries. If there was a way to find an antibiotic for this, she knew he would have the appropriate in formation to assist in doing so.

Lt. Shaidi
CMO

“Here, look at this.” he said and brought up a 3D model of the bacteriological agent. “It’s airborne, Doctor. It’s probably spread across the entire ship by now. I found it in the blood sample. I have started a DNA model, but we will need to coordinate to develop an antibiotic.”

Ahearn, CSO

“Then the airvents aren’t making it any easier for us, now are they?” The Doctor remarked, rhetocially. For a second, she glanced over the model to see just what she was looking at. “From what I’ve read and heard, we’re dealing with a bacteria with similarities to one once on the Voyager, however, a distant ancestor. From what was explained, it couldn’t be treated with Antibacterials, but that doesn’t eliminate the possibility that this one might.”

Dr. Shaidi
CMO

A computer simulation result showed that this ancestor was immune to antibacterials as well. Seemed like the viral component was the one factor that kept the bacteria immune.

GM

Ahearn scowled. “A bacteriological agent with viral component. Great. Might as well just let the thing…” and then he stopped talking and the scowl increased, decreased, and then was replaced by a look of curiosity. “Doctor… what about an antibiotic delivered as an antiviral? Make it a two-step medication, as it were. We encapsulate the antibiotic in a sheath of ant-viral proteins. The sheath is burned off by compromising the viral component, thus leaving the bacteria susceptible. That, in turn, is then treated by the encapsulated antibiotic?”

Ahearn, CSO

For a second, Greve seemed to consider this option, tapping her chin. “Doing so would fool the bacterial agent. That is sort of the approach they used to use to attack different viruses, such as Cancer. They would attempt to conceal the agent in a different capsule, and when injected or taken by the mouth, the antibiotic would travel through the body, once in sign of the virus, it would edge close, luring it in. And once close enough, it would release the medicine, as to attack the cells of the virus.” She nodded, “The sheath could be burnt off with the heat of a fever, sort of like how the influenza virus breaks. If we were to apply the medicine, and then induce a slightly raised temperature, it might be enough to act as a freeing component for the medicine.”

Dr. Shaidi
CMO

Ahearn’s scowl changed to a slight grin. “Aye, lass. I like it. Let’s see what we have with regards to a DNA model of this bugger, and then we can whip up our anti-viral antibiotic.”

Ahearn, CSO

The simulation showed 90% effectiveness, with a 10% chance of mutation.

GM

Ahearn looked at the simulation and then tapped his badge. =/\= Science to Bridge. Captain, the Chief Medical officer and I may have a solution to the infection. We should be able to synthesize the medication, but there is a small chance that it will cause a mutation to the bacteria and we will have to start over. Permission to begin creating the medication? =/\=

Ahearn, CSO

=^=Dat is de best news I ‘ave ‘eard all day, Mr. Ahearn,=^= Remy replied as a slight bit of relief washed over him. For the first time since he took command, he wished he had a Vulcan on board to offer specifics on that “slight” chance of mutation. Still, he trusted Ahearn. The Orion was his chief science officer for a reason and that was to come up with solutions to situations such as this. Between Ahearn and Dr. Shaidi, he felt their chances for success were pretty good.

=^=Permission granted, Lt. Keep me appraised, whether you ‘ave success or no’.=^=

Boudreaux (CO)

“All right, let’s get to work, then.. I assume you know some or most of this, but I’m going to say it anyways: We are looking heavily into a gasterointstinal issue, or something to do with the stomach. There are several different antibiotics we can look into for this sort of issue. However, I would avoid anything in the nitroimidazole group, as they don’t work very well with antivirals, and we need something that is going to par well with an antiviral casing.” A moment of thought, “We might be able to use a base of a wide set antibiotic. These are used to treat a wide variety of different stomach issues, and might be a good place to start. For instance, perhaps a simple penicillin base. It works by preventing the cross-linking of any peptidoglycans during the final stages of synthesis in the production or repair of the cell wall. It would effectively kill the bacteria, and is known for being one of the lesser of two evils, when it comes to side effects. After all, penicillin is a natural chemical in our bodies.. Any others would depend heavily on if we’re dealing with a gram-negative or a gram-positive bacterial.” She observed, considering it for a moment, “Regardless.. We would have to alter the structure of the antibiotic to fit the needs of our current bacterial agent.” Silently, she turned to the model and any information they had, to see if they were dealing with a gram-p or a gram-n. “It’s all about that outer cell wall. If it is gram-positive, penicillin would be our best shot, as it targets that peptidoglycan, which gram-positive bacteria has high concentration in. Suggestions?”

Dr. Shaidi
CMO

Ahearn listened and watched as Shaidi spoke, nodding in agreement at her hypothesis and suggested routes. He smiled at her for a moment and said “You know your stuff. I like it.” and went back to viewing the model. “Suggestions, not so much, but a few clarification questions. Gastrointestinal. Are we sure it’s stomach and not lower down the digestive tract? If we are going to create a sheathe for this and it has to pass through the stomach, it will need to be robust enough to survive the acid present. Is this a cross-species infection? If so, there may be a commonality in how the agent is activated in the respiratory tract before getting to the gastrointestinal region. If we could isolate that, we could also create an immunization protocol in conjunction with the treatment. I agree with the penicillin suggestion. Start broad-spectrum and see if we can address it before having to tailor it down. I will also scan for peptidoglycan concentration as we go. If it comes back high we are on the right track.” and he adjusted the scanners to reflect the specific inquiry.

Ahearn, CSO

=/\= Sickbay to Shaidi. Doctor, we have our first Vulcan patient infected with the virus… Though, he’s showing different symptoms. His body temperature is extremely low. We have him under observation with several them all blankets currently to stabilize him. =/\=

GM

=/\=Understood. I will be there, shortly.=/\=

Turning to Ahearn, she rose dark eyebrows. “It looks like that’s my call. Perhaps this will offer us the information that we need. Until then, please keep me posted,” She smiled, turning to head to that patient.

Dr. Shaidi

“Send me blood samples, Doctor. I’ll cross check the protein synthesis to make sure we can distribute to all crew regardless of species.” he said after her as she walked to exit the lab.

Ahearn, CSO

Once the samples had been sent, Ahearn began the synthesis of the antiviral-sheathed antibiotic. After an hour or so, he had ten doses created. he tapped his badge. =/\= Lab to Sickbay. I have the synthesis complete. Incorporated a chemical marker for tracking purposes and refined the antiviral sleeve. Possibility of mutation has been lowered to around eight-point-seven-five percent. Want me to bring it to you?=/\=

Ahearn, CSO

=^=If you could be a dear and bring it, that would be appreciated!=^= There was a hidden frustration behind the voice of the doctor, despite her efforts to hide it behind her generally cheerfulish nature.
Dr. Shaidi

=/\= On my way, lass.=/\= Ahearn responded, noting the tone. He put the doses in a shock resistant case and walked out of the lab and to the turbolift.

Ahearn, CSO