Great start, especially that first paragraph. It rings quite true in the frantic nature and the desperate attempt at self-cure.

This piece has something of a gothic or Victorian flavour to it (the subject matter and style brought to mind Poe’s story The System of Doctor Tarr and Professor Fether) which will be something of a challenge to maintain, I suspect.

The use of the word “chef” caught me off guard and thereby interrupted the flow of the story for me. Rather than “Like a chef,” could I recommend “As when?” It is the action that is important and not who performs that action.

Your final line threw me off as well. It seems quite casual when compared with the text above.

The chef analogy and and talk of viruses really add a lot of color to this, I really like it. Looking forward to reading more.

I agree with August 2nd that it smacks of the Gothic. I also like the two different approaches to ideas – does transmitting them dilute them, or double them?