Thread: Quarantine

Say several men (probably under a dozen) all display the same symptoms simultaneously despite not being scattered over the world. Symptoms include violent diarrhea and vomiting, high fever, violent urges and hallucinations. Now suppose every man has the exact same hallucinations simultaneously--namely, that they are connected to a being, "Pinocchio" who is lost and starving in the woods.

The illness has an exceptionally violent onset. After purging their digestive systems, patients yell and thrash about and do everything in their power to get to "Pinocchio". They do not eat, sleep or drink and are capable of conversing only in these blackout hallucinating periods (and are usually unconscious otherwise). When conscious, they remember little of the hallucinations, only that "Pinocchio" is lost and hungry. Fevers spike during blackout periods, which often last for several hours and require the patient to be restrained.

So, say the illness lasts for ten days with some of the initially greater number (unknown, but probably over a hundred) reviving to normalcy each day (95% within the first two days) and others becoming much worse until all patients wake up seemingly fine on the tenth day. Strength of hallucinations directly correlates to recovery time (those with mild symptoms and 'funny dreams' recovered quickest; those with large blackouts took ten days with few exceptions and those exceptions always being heavily subdued with tranquilizers). Fewer than one dozen took ten days to recover.

All patients are men between 23 and 65 years of age (mean age of 35). Most are white and mildly wealthy. Almost all are openly gay. Most are American and all have visited the States at least once in the past six years.

What do you think the global medical community would do with such an illness/event?

The first step would be to determine weather or not it really is an infection, because the symptoms and the results are something like 'impossible'. The second measure would be to try and prevent people from travelling from infected areas to non- infected areas. But the major problem is that this disease does not seem to have any harmfull effects and cant kill, so it would be on the bottom of the list of doctors.

It's your story, Bec. As you're capable of dreaming up the symptoms you can just as easily dream up a reaction by the medical fraternity.

Euthanasia would seem appropriate.

In the story, several people did die due to dehydration (between GI symptoms and not drinking) and injuries after wandering into the wilderness during the blackout fugue periods. Numerous disappearances. Men found wandering in the woods, disoriented and violent. Men were also found speaking in American English despite either not knowing English or not being from the States.

yes but even so it is nothing close to AIDS or cancer so it will perhaps recieve a lot of publicity be cause of the symptoms but the fact remains, it is not as deadly as hundreds of other disesases. oh and does a person get the disease again after getting it once? If he does then the story can move forward but if he cant then the person has immunity so the anti bodies can be seperated.

There is no pathogen. Everyone simultaneously had the same hallucinations and, despite linguistic barriers, made outbursts in the same language. When patients wake up, days later, some refuse to answer questions or affect that they don't know this Pinocchio. Others plead for help against this "Pinocchio" who has been "lost in the woods". They claim he's a engineered non-human exotic dancer with mind powers.

then It cant be a disease so the doctors will barely take any action other than examining the paitients. It should mostly be military and it will be blamed on aliens or the super natural

Lots of medical problems don't have a virus or bacteria--like vitamin deficiencies, radiation, poisons, autoimmune, congenital or inherited problems, heart disease, cancer, mental imbalances.

What I'm wondering more is how long it will take to rule out other diseases and how long before journalist and/or military involvement. How quick and how aggressive might such a reaction be?

I can't imagine anyone wanting "Is This a Case of Alien Possession?" in the headlines.

Journalistic involvment will be immidiate. The symptoms ensure that it will recieve more publicity than any other disease. Military involvement will probably remain to a mild interst. The other thing that the military will do is to try and locate 'Pinocchio'. Sucessful or not I doubt that anything extream will be done by the military

The factor that will throw off the medical field:
People with little in comon, except having been to the US(massive land area), they would try to narrow it to a state or locale that the men have visited, or that the men have connected in other locations. Some one picks it up at point A, spreads it to person 2 when meets in location B, and they spread it to others in their travels.
It would be a syndrome until it is proven a disease.
(like Gulf war syndrome)

I think establishing the syndrome and how it spreads and why before explaining it so the clues will lead the reader towards the answer. Rather then just seemingly random symptoms.
Not sure how to tie the mass Hallucination except for maybe military trying a new communication system(ie mental communication of barest feelings-fear and hunger)with the syndrome being side effects of how the body reacts to the com system or the reciever that was slipped into the persons body secretly.

I've been having these dreams, Seig . . . . How did you find out about them? Do you know other guys who are having them? Although in my dreams, the name is nicco, not pinoccio.

There would be a delay in publicity until multiple cases got press or the CDC got involved; otherwise each patient's right to privacy would lead to treating it as an unusual flu type illness with hallucinations or a possible mental issue.