The patient: A 77-year-old man in China
The symptoms: Seven hours before being admitted to a hospital, the patient developed shortness of breath, abdominal pain and "obvious" abdominal distension, meaning his belly appeared very bloated and stretched out, doctors wrote in a report of the case. He'd had trouble urinating and defecating for about four days, and one week prior to admission, he'd been given antiviral and pain-relieving medicines for a case of shingles that was affecting his lower back, around the sacrum, or the base of the spine.
