Episode 16

"Dengue Fever/Acne" (デング熱/ニキビ) is the sixteenth episode of the Cells at Work! anime.

Synopsis
Mast Cell does her job by the book, but complaints pour in from other cells that are annoyed by her actions and Mast Cell loses her cool.

Plot
Dengue Fever

Mast Cell receives countless complaints when she releases excess histamines for a minor problem, leading to inflammation. The cells’ grievances make Mast Cell angry, causing her to throw a table at them which frightens them, and she vows to not do her job.

Elsewhere, a mosquito bites the body and sucks out countless red blood cells. But not only that, the insect leaves a nasty gift afterward, the Dengue Virus.

The virus takes over Langerhans Cell and starts attacking the body in a hypnotized state. Even though Mast Cell sees the damage, she refuses to release histamines. Basophil approaches her and suggests that Mast Cell to do what she thinks is best.

Mast Cell gives in and releases the histamines, which distract the infected cells. As a result, they alert the white blood cells so they can get rid of the virus.

The cells apologize to Mast Cell. With a triumphant sneer, Mast Cell tells them that she was right all along. She believes she didn't do anything wrong with her previous histamine releases.

Acne

U-1146 investigates a pore that turned into a pimple. But not only that, but U-1146 also finds that the Propionibacterium Acnes have enslaved the hair and sebum-producing cells to feed on sebum.

Not only that, but the bacterium has also killed several white blood cells and turned them into pus.

A young Hair Matrix Cell wants to give up and says they are only one hair and unimportant. But U-1146 gives him some encouraging words and tells him every individual cell 0is important.

The white blood cell fights off countless acne bacteria because their king can regenerate indefinitely due to the sebum he consumes.

Drawing on U-1146's words, the young Hair Matrix Cell encourages his brethren to produce an overload of sebum. This leads the king to get so engorged that he can barely move. Thus, allowing U-1146 to kill him.

U-1146 barely makes it out of the sebum sea alive.

New characters

 * Dengue Virus
 * Propionibacterium Acnes
 * Hair Matrix Cell

Returning characters

 * Mast Cell
 * Langerhans Cell
 * Basophil