Space and Infectious Disease
After you contact them, they inform you that someone you contacted during the quarantine period has just tested positive for strep throat. They order you to wear a surgical mask and inform the other astronauts to wear their N95 respirators to prevent the floating pathogens from entering their airways.
An infection of Streptococcal bacteria on Earth is not a huge deal, but in space where air is recycled with little filtration, CO2 concentrations are high, and virulence is increased due to microgravity, it is definitely a concern. You have a stash of antibiotics on board, but due to changes in gravity, the biology of many bacteria changes. Many strains of bacteria become resistant to a host of antibiotic drugs like penicillin.
Luckily for you, the drugs seem to work and the rest of the crew is spared from infection. In a few short months you will reach Mars. Hopefully nothing else goes wrong on the way there.
An infection of Streptococcal bacteria on Earth is not a huge deal, but in space where air is recycled with little filtration, CO2 concentrations are high, and virulence is increased due to microgravity, it is definitely a concern. You have a stash of antibiotics on board, but due to changes in gravity, the biology of many bacteria changes. Many strains of bacteria become resistant to a host of antibiotic drugs like penicillin.
Luckily for you, the drugs seem to work and the rest of the crew is spared from infection. In a few short months you will reach Mars. Hopefully nothing else goes wrong on the way there.