Martian lockjaw

Disease native to Mars

The patient came in complaining of flu like symptoms and stomach ache, before promptly throwing up. Unsure of what to do we recommended pills to reduce the pain. Five days later he returned, halfway through the appointment he froze, unable to move, and so was rushed to hospital. Less than 24 hours later he was dead.

— Medical journal entry, unknown 2025

Martian Lockjaw is a serious and, if left untreated for too long, deadly disease native to Mars. It is caused by areobacteria in the Martian desert, and is often seen as an extreme case of Dusthead, due to both being common after sandstorms.

Transmission & Vectors

Areobacteria.

Causes

Broken skin coming into contact with the Martian sand.

Symptoms

Stage I (1-3 days): Muscle spasms, sore tongue and shoulders, dizziness. Stage II (4-5 days): Extreme nausea. Stage III (-1 day): Temporary paralysis. Stage IV (5-6 days): Loss of consciousness. (unrecoverable) Stage V: Death

Treatment

The only known treatment is to flush it out of the system via drugs, which generally makes the dizziness worse.

Prognosis

If caught before Stage IV it's not normally fatal. It can, however, progress from Stage III to Stage IV during treatment. It is possible to keep the patient's body alive for longer than the normal 5-6 days of unconsciousness, however, they will never regain consciousness and will ultimately die.

Sequela

May lead to epilepsy if Stage III was reached.

Affected Groups

The young and old are often affected more violently.

Hosts & Carriers

Microbial life native to Mars.

Prevention

Vaccines offered to all Martian children during infancy and anyone heading to Mars. Any Martian exports must be sterilised to prevent spreading.

Epidemiology

Sandstorms can cause particles to be suspended in the air for up to 3 days, which can cause outbreaks. Cases have also been reported on other planets and moons where sand from Mars has managed to be transported there and the disease has infected the unvaccinated population, often in large numbers.

History

The first recorded case was in 2037 when large numbers of the continental martian population became ill with the disease. The last Martian outbreak was in 2058 in Elysium after a particularly violent sandstorm. After this outbreak, a vaccine was introduced.
Off-world outbreaks include the Tritonian epidemic of 2062, which, initially thought to be a different disease, was discovered by scientists to be identical, the Ionian epidemic of 2069, which was brought over by an unvaccinated Martian and spread rapidly throughout the moon due to the already weak immune systems of many Ionians.
It is also thought that an outbreak of the disease occured on Terra in 2026.

Type

Bacterial

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Uncommon