Curing the 'disease from history'

More than 70 years after World War II, elderly people in villages in East China may at last find relief from the effects of Japanese biological weapons. Zhao Xu reports.

Sitting in the dark in his small house, with a colorful painting of the God of Fortune hanging on the wall, Wei Hongfu was as immobile as the wooden beams that have supported his roof for the past 40 years.

"New ulcers and old scars－they never heal and probably never will," he said, rolling up his pants legs. Creeping across the lower part of both legs was a sprawling, grotesque, black and brown bulge, veined by pinkish flesh that resembled a spider's legs. Underneath it were bubbles of pus that seemed never to recede. "Sometimes, it relents for a period of time, only to make a vehement comeback and invade more (of my legs)," he said.

Yet on a warm morning in early May, the 88-year-old was told that the ailment that has tormented him since he was 14 may soon come to an end.

"They've had their hopes rise and fall so many times that most of them dare not hope anymore," said Wu Jianping, who brought the news to Wei. Wu is the head of a pressure group called Victims of the Japanese Germ War in Quzhou, a prefecture-level city in Zhejiang province.

"In Quzhou today, we have about 170 men and women, mostly in their 70s and 80s, with the same symptoms as Wei. Many have sought permanent relief before, but were told that the condition is incurable," he said. "However, for the past six months, more than 30 of them have received treatment at Quhua Hospital. Apart from one relapse, the results have been good so far."

Situated in the center of Quzhou, Zhejiang province, is the Quhua Hospital, affiliated with Quzhou Chemicals, one of China's largest producers of industrial chemical products. The hospital has a reputation for treating chemical burns. Zhang Yuanhai, a wound specialist and the hospital's deputy director, has personally operated on many of the patients with the condition.

"'Rotten-leg disease' - that's how it's known here," the 49-year-old said. "Our treatment basically has two stages. First, the ulcers on the patient's legs are thoroughly removed and the area is cleaned. All the relapses over time have produced a thick, hard layer of tissue, like a board, within the damaged area. This has to be thinned to prepare for the skin graft that usually takes place 10 days after the initial surgery."

Skin from the head is used for the graft. "Skin from the scalp is preferred because it's thicker, more elastic and easier to grow. This gives the skin graft a higher success rate," Zhang said. "It usually takes about a week for the skin on the patient's head to grow back together and repair itself."