Section III, Viruses.
Chapter 5, The Immortality Virus.
General.
Discovered on Earth by cancer researchers in the 21st century, the Immortality Virus (IV-933) is a highly engineered hybrid virus combining elements of human immunodeficiency virus with influenza. IV-933 is transmitted sexually and via blood. A child born from an Immortal mother has a forty percent chance of being infected with IV-933 from birth and will otherwise be Mortal. It is possible for IV-933 to pass via contact with respiratory droplets, but such transmission is rare for anyone who has already been exposed to another strain of influenza.
Symptoms of IV-933 typically begin five days after exposure and commonly include congestion, coughing, body aches, nausea, and fatigue. In advanced cases, difficulty breathing, fever, confusion, and hallucination are sometimes reported.
Assuming a baseline level of resistance to influenza, IV-933 has a fatality rate of 1 in 10000. Without such baseline resistance, IV-933 has a fatality rate of 1 in 5. Survivors experience various changes to their physiology, including most dramatically a decline in the natural aging process such as to make them effectively “immortal.” Additionally, IV-933 remains in the body and has both immediate and delayed impacts, including:
- Structural alteration of the anterior insular cortex, resulting in heightened self-awareness, increased ability to sense temperature, decreased ability to regulate blood pressure and heart rate, and high sensitivity to emotion (i.e., emotional experiences may seem painfully intense);
- Broken blood vessels in the sclera, accompanied by eye itching and irritability, sensitivity to light, vision loss, headaches, and dizziness;
- Hormonal changes that may result in episodes of mania, anxiety, and depression, and are also responsible for drastic changes in eye pigmentation, which, in combination with the above, frequently make the eyes appear red or pink; and
- Gradual frontal lobe atrophy commonly resulting in an inability to express appropriate emotional responses to a situation, as well as decreased executive functioning, such as long-term planning, judgment, decision-making skills, attention span, and inhibition.
As no other influenza virus exists on Kepler, IV-933 is highly dangerous for Keplerian Mortals. The GMC highly recommends vaccination treatment for Mortal infants, followed by booster shots for teenagers and the elderly. Vaccination will not prevent transmission of IV-933 via blood or sexual contact but will normally provide enough exposure/resistance to the virus to prevent transmission by contact with respiratory droplets and may reduce the likeliness of a fatal outcome. Mortals with magic are particularly susceptible to IV-933 and should receive booster shots every ten years. Mortals born from Immortal parents are not less susceptible to IV-933 and should also be vaccinated.
(The Gandhi Medical Center Disease Treatise, 2nd Edition, is a fictional treatise published in Vasher, Sandra. Sisters of the Perilous Heart, Mortal Heritance Book One. Mortal Ink Press, 2020.)