Void
A mysterious and problematic disease most commonly found in major cities.
Transmission & Vectors
Void can only be caught from exposure to the blood of a deceased infected. This contact can be through touch, ingestion, or even prolonged airborne exposure.
Due to this nature of transmission, critically injured carriers of void may be denied medical care due to the risk of transmission to medical staff should they die.
Symptoms
Void causes its sufferers to experience varying degrees of pain. It may be constant or come in episodes. The intensity and debilitating nature of void symptoms will vary from person to person with no identifiable reasons.
Visible symptoms of void include blackening of the veins during times when pain is most intense.
Treatment
Most painkillers are ineffective against void's symptoms, and those that are effective are rare and thus expensive. There is no known cure and all cases have been shown to be lifelong. For those with mild symptoms, it is possible to get by without the need for any treatment, but others are left debilitated with little option for relief.
Affected Groups
The only known contractors of void are beastioids, humans, and sirens. Tests have been conducted determining that no level of exposure succeeds in passing the disease on to fae; its compatibility with monoliths is unknown. The reasons for such selective contamination are currently unknown.
Tests on animals have shown that while they may spread the blood of the infected, they themselves cannot carry the disease.
Prevention
The bodies of void carriers must be isolated and cremated as soon as possible. However, many of those living with the condition live in impoverished circumstances and are not always disposed of before infecting others.
Cultural Reception
Being passed through the blood of the deceased, it is stereotyped that void is caught only by murderers and other dealers to death. Some go so far as to perceive it as a divine punishment for killers. This assumption isn't purely without reason, and void is more concentrated in places with a denser population and more violence. However, this correlation is likely also influenced by a lack of proper means of corpse disposal.
Regardless of how they contracted the disease, many people choose to keep it private to prevent possible prejudice.
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this is fascinating! what a very cool disease. the fact that it is not transmissible until a host dies has some very elegant conclusions with big repercussions. the inclusion of the medical discrimination and the association with murderers is really cool. awesome.