# Favorite Fictional...Diseases? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [July 27, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333 "2003-07-27T23:39:30Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Ranchoth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ranchoth/32/1066_2.png) [@Ranchoth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ranchoth)\ **Post date:** [July 27, 2003, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/1 "2003-07-27T23:39:30Z")
Weird poll time, and I don’t think that this one’s even been done yet. (I’m almost 30% sure of it.) And “conditions” or “syndromes” count as well, as long as they’re fictional. Although “favorite” is somewhat subjective, I’ll conceede. For starters? •The **[Mutaba Virus](http://216.239.53.104/search?q=cache:g1_2iptQHNMJ:kasd.k12.pa.us/high/classroom/biology/cwinsor/outbreak.html+mutaba+outbreak&hl=en&ie=UTF-8)** from “Outbreak.” Just like Ebola, only airbourne. A classic. •The \*\*[\*\*](http://24.191.192.76:8000/tech/transmode.html), from the Marvel Comics universe. Aka “The Techno-Organic Virus.” Transforms the organic tissue of it’s victims into a technological construct. Nasty stuff, but good for clearing out the ranks of luddites. (Yuuzhan Vong, I’m looking at _you_, 'ere!) So…any other suggestions? And a outline of the symptoms for each entry would be appreciated. ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/2 "2003-07-28T00:18:32Z")
The one from _Star Trek_ that makes everybody horny. It made orgies break out on both Kirk’s and Picard’s _Enterprises_. I can’t remember what it’s called (if in fact it was ever named). Although now that I think about it, it also made Data uncontrollably aroused, so maybe it wasn’t a disease but some other phenomenon . . . **Trek Dopers**. . . ? ---
**Author:** ![Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bosda_di_chi_of_tricor/32/16845_2.png) [@Bosda\_Di\_Chi\_of\_Tricor](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Bosda_Di_Chi_of_Tricor)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 12:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/3 "2003-07-28T00:26:41Z")
Lycanthropy. ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 12:34am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/4 "2003-07-28T00:34:43Z")
Lycanthropy isn’t fictional. Take my word for it. My choice? No contest… **cathynpnia** , the childhood disease that renders its small victims both lethargic and telepathic, and elegible for “treatment” by the mysterious McNair Foundation. From the brilliant Peter Dickinson’s especially-brilliant 1971 mystery novel _Sleep and His Brother_. ---
**Author:** ![Mephisto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/48db29/32.png) [@Mephisto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mephisto)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 12:37am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/5 "2003-07-28T00:37:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Bosda Di’Chi of Tricor \* > \*\*Lycanthropy. \*\* Good one. To which I’ll add vampirism (in some books and movies it’s caused by a virus or bacteria). And according to a couple websites I’ve looked at since my first post in this thread, the horniness that afflicted the Enterprises’ crews was indeed a disease of some sort, even though it affected Data who I thought should be immune to such things. The _ST:TOS_ episode was called "The Naked Time"and the _ST:TNG_ episode was called “The Naked Now.” ---
**Author:** ![Ukulele\_Ike](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/df788c/32.png) [@Ukulele\_Ike](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ukulele_Ike)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 1:24am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/6 "2003-07-28T01:24:29Z")
Vampirism isn’t fictional, either. ---
**Author:** ![Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/earl_snake-hips_tucker/32/3269_2.png) [@Earl\_Snake-Hips\_Tucker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Earl_Snake-Hips_Tucker)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 1:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/7 "2003-07-28T01:29:34Z")
Cryptococcus Neuromyces from Wilbur Smith’s _The Sunbird_. It’s a lethal airborne fungus-or-something-like-it found in sealed-off ancient tombs. This novel also made use of the word “Gry,” but saying more would be spoiling. ---
**Author:** ![TeaRoses](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/c37758/32.png) [@TeaRoses](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/TeaRoses)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/8 "2003-07-28T02:00:33Z")
The “disease” in Greg Bear’s Blood Music. ---
**Author:** ![K\_rul](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/e5b9ba/32.png) [@K\_rul](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/K_rul)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 2:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/9 "2003-07-28T02:38:58Z")
the changa from ian mcdonald’s evoloutions shore ---
**Author:** ![FaerieBeth](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/e95f7d/32.png) [@FaerieBeth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/FaerieBeth)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 2:45am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/10 "2003-07-28T02:45:48Z")
On an old soap opera (can’t remember which) there was a woman who suffered from ‘hysterical pregnancy’. It was a psychologic disorder wherein she wanted to be pregnant so badly that her periods stopped and her tummy started expanding. It was a very bizarre storyline… So I’ll go with that. It was…hysterical? FB ---
**Author:** ![Freudian\_Slit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/f/5daacb/32.png) [@Freudian\_Slit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Freudian_Slit)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 3:14am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/11 "2003-07-28T03:14:00Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by FaerieBeth \* > \*\*On an old soap opera (can’t remember which) there was a woman who suffered from ‘hysterical pregnancy’. > > FB \*\* Let me beat you to it, **Ukulele Ike** … Also–I think Cecil did a column on lycanthropy…but vamprisism can’t be real, can it? Unless this is all one big whoosh. ---
**Author:** ![Otto](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/bbe5ce/32.png) [@Otto](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Otto)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 3:26am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/12 "2003-07-28T03:26:47Z")
IIRC the horniness disease from ST was caused by “long chain water molecules” or some such treknobabble. My favorite fictional diseases are the ones, too numerous to list off, in which if the serum/vaccine/antidote is administered by, say, 11:51 AM then the disease will go into instant remission with no after-effects of any kind, but at 11:52 AM it’s too late and the end result is a 100% fatality rate. Oh, and also what at least one movie reviewer has termed “Ali McGraw Disease” from its appearance in _Love Story_, the symptoms of which are to have it announced one is ill and then die shortly thereafter. ---
**Author:** ![Icerigger](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/icerigger/32/432_2.png) [@Icerigger](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Icerigger)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 11:38am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/13 "2003-07-28T11:38:07Z")
Barclays Protomorphosis Syndrome ---
**Author:** ![sugaree](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/cc9497/32.png) [@sugaree](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sugaree)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 11:50am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/14 "2003-07-28T11:50:07Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Otto \* > \*\*Oh, and also what at least one movie reviewer has termed “Ali McGraw Disease” from its appearance in _Love Story_, the symptoms of which are to have it announced one is ill and then die shortly thereafter. \*\* Yes, I believe the main symptom is that of having one’s glossy hair spread across the pillow in a fetching corona of shininess. ---
**Author:** ![isthatsowrong](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/35a633/32.png) [@isthatsowrong](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/isthatsowrong)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 12:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/15 "2003-07-28T12:32:52Z")
CRS Disease - Can’t Remember Shit, from too many movies to list. ---
**Author:** ![Annie-Xmas](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecc23a/32.png) [@Annie-Xmas](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Annie-Xmas)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 12:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/16 "2003-07-28T12:49:21Z")
Captain Tripps. ---
**Author:** ![Chefguy](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chefguy/32/138_2.png) [@Chefguy](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Chefguy)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 5:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/17 "2003-07-28T17:33:15Z")
Ooh, ooh, **uromysitysis** from Seinfeld. ---
**Author:** ![Steve\_Wright](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/848f3c/32.png) [@Steve\_Wright](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Steve_Wright)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 6:36pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/18 "2003-07-28T18:36:44Z")
Nobody’s mentioned the (Masque of the) Red Death yet? ---
**Author:** ![Zenster](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/cdc98d/32.png) [@Zenster](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zenster)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/19 "2003-07-28T19:27:17Z")
Skin failure! (Dr. Nick Riviera) Tertiary coreopsis of the patella (thanks, Arthur Hoppe) The vapors. ---
**Author:** ![Max\_Carnage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/max_carnage/32/12775_2.png) [@Max\_Carnage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Max_Carnage)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/20 "2003-07-28T19:40:23Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Zenster \* > \*\*Skin failure! (Dr. Nick Riviera) > > Tertiary coreopsis of the patella (thanks, Arthur Hoppe) > > The vapors. \*\* The Vapors is very real as well, just very Southern. Actually it’s just gas, but real southern belles don’t have gas, they “get tha’ vapahs.” Just like they don’t sweat, they glisten. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333.md?page=2)