Night Fever
Transmission & Vectors
Night Fever is transmitted by the saliva. Eating or drinking after an infected person or breathing in the droplets in a sneeze or cough can cause it to spread.
Causes
Night Fever is caused by a breakdown of healthy tissue in the respiratory system. As this progresses, the infected may get airway blockage, damage to the heart, nerve damage, and kidney failure. As the dead tissue builds up, eating and drinking will become difficult and the throat may swell.
This is especially dangerous in cold and/or dry climates, as those exacerbate the issues. The cold can add seasonal mucus to the mix, and the dry can cause excess dehydration.
Symptoms
Shortness of breath, sore throat, cough, fever, and loss of taste and smell
Treatment
The sickness is easy enough for a Cleric to treat, but is resistant to medicine. This is due in large part to the resilience of the bacteria and the inability for the medicines to reduce the inflammation. However, then a certain mold is blended with elder root, a tincture can be made that will reduce the symptoms. If the tincture buys enough time for the body to fight back, the patient is likely to recover.
Prognosis
The prognosis is grim. Children and the elderly are especially susceptible to the sickness, as both have weakened immune systems, and the elderly likely have weaker lungs. Still, in most cases, there are a maximum of four days where the disease can be halted. After that point, the degradation of the lungs and throat will be too much and the chances of survival drop dramatically.
If not caught within that early period, the likely outcome is death.
The origin of the name is from the slight exaggeration that "the fever kills you overnight".
Sequela
If the infected recovers, they will have flareups for the rest of their lives. These are far less severe on their own, but they have a tendency to be triggered by other sicknesses, thus making what could be a simple prognosis far more dangerous. However, these can also be triggered by high exposure to cold or heat, or seasonal allergies.
The flareups do not result in further necrosis, but a cough and mild fever. They do have a small chance of spreading the disease, but it is slight compared to the initial infection.
Affected Groups
This disease is most common among the poor in small cities, as they have limited access to medicine and are closely gathered. However, it is a rare enough that no one group could be considered as "affected".
Hosts & Carriers
Anyone who has had the disease and recovered is a carrier. However, outside of their flareups, they are not contagious. Still, this is the source of most new infections.
Prevention
Quarantining the infected is one of the only proven methods. Wearing a face covering has also been found to limit the chances.
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