Barcino Spore Fever

Of the various ailments that can be acquired by being outside in Spore Season unprotected or neglecting to properly decontaminate when coming inside is Barcino Spore Fever. It's typically only an issue for peopel with weaker immune systems, like children and the elderly, but sufficient exposure to the right spores can infect anyone.

Transmission & Vectors

Fortunately, it's not a contagious disease. Catching it is as easy as inhaling some spores though, and areas contaminated with large amounts of spores can act as contact points when medical staff track back the history of the spread in the event of an outbreak.

Causes

Spores. During spore season on Barcino, more or less all of the flora on the planet releases their spores at once, creating massive clouds of mixed spores. There's no one specific type that seems to cause this sickness, rather it's the combination of many kinds of spores hitting the body's immune system at once.

Symptoms

It begins with a persistent cough and throat irritation, progressing to shortness of breath, fever, and lethargy. The issue is that there's fungus actively trying to grow in the lungs, throat, and mucus membranes.

Treatment

Anti-fungal medications, being placed in or maintaining low humidity environment, and rest.

Prognosis

Most people survive this illness, even with minimal treatment, but it's strongly recommended that anyone suffering from it get proper medical attention to avoid long-term impacts. It's not unusual to hear about deaths from Barcino Spore Fever, but those are increasingly rare as the years progress.

Sequela

Some sufferers, especially those who do not receive medication, can develop:

a permanent persistent cough

reduced lung capacity

asthma

severe allergies to spores and sometimes even normal edible fungus

penicillin allergies

Affected Groups

This mostly impacts people living on Barcino, but it does get the occasional off-worlder who doesn't believe the warnings. Most people impacted are either the young or elderly.

Prevention

Avoiding spore exposure is the main method. And if they can't be avoided wearing proper protective clothing for the scale of the storm, and then following all the proper decontamination procedures, is usually sufficient.

Epidemiology

The largest outbreaks have been traced to faulty or intentionally sabotaged air filtration systems, breaches in the protective system, and improper decontamination after exposure.

History

This has been a reality on Barcino since the earliest days of colonization, and has been a constant in their existence for centuries.

Cultural Reception

Catching a case of Barcino Spore Fever isn't cause for alarm, the reaction is more that it's a failure of the collective to prevent an avoidable experience. There's a few in the far right and the naturopath communities who see it as a right of passage, but thankfully they're not taken seriously by the overwhelming majority of the population.

Type

Fungal

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Uncommon