# 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:** 2
**Author:** ![The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/b5ac83/32.png) [@The\_Mad\_Hermit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/The_Mad_Hermit)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/21 "2003-07-28T19:49:31Z")
Frank Herbert’s White Plague, from the book of the same name. It was developed by a bioresearcher as vengeance for the IRA bombing that killed his family. It killed women exclusively. Brain cloud? -_Joe vs. the Volcano_ Hollywood amnesia, seen in everything- lately in last season’s 24, where Keifer’s wife forgets just enough to keep the mystery in the plot. The puberty-induced madness disease on Star Trek’s _Miri._ Oh, and how about the galactic “disease” in Trek’s _Immunity Syndrome?_ That was one big bacterium. ---
**Author:** ![X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/x/bbe5ce/32.png) [@X\_Slayer\_ALE](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/X_Slayer_ALE)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 7:53pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/22 "2003-07-28T19:53:03Z")
Nymphomania …seriously. Has anyone known anyone to clinically have this “disease”? …and if you do, can I have name, address and phone number please. 😃 ---
**Author:** ![hebesphenomegacorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@hebesphenomegacorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hebesphenomegacorona)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 8:13pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/23 "2003-07-28T20:13:32Z")
> [@](#): > > \*Originally posted by Ukulele Ike \* > **Lycanthropy isn’t fictional. Take my word for it.** I’d think he’s talking about the guys who TURN into wolves, not those who THINK they’re wolves.\* \*I think that’s the symptom… ---
**Author:** ![hebesphenomegacorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@hebesphenomegacorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hebesphenomegacorona)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 8:27pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/24 "2003-07-28T20:27:06Z")
Never mind that it’s an addiction instead of a disease, I’d go with Bloodhype addiction, from Bloodhype, by Allan Dean Foster. 100% addiction rate, guaranteed death unholily expensive… ---
**Author:** ![hebesphenomegacorona](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/b9e5f3/32.png) [@hebesphenomegacorona](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hebesphenomegacorona)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 8:40pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/25 "2003-07-28T20:40:19Z")
Never mind that it’s an addiction instead of a disease, I’d go with Bloodhype addiction, from Bloodhype, by Allan Dean Foster. 100% addiction rate, guaranteed death unholily expensive… ---
**Author:** ![gotpasswords](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/c57346/32.png) [@gotpasswords](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gotpasswords)\ **Post date:** [July 28, 2003, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/26 "2003-07-28T23:59:26Z")
These weren’t mentioned in any stories, but two diseases inspired by street signs near my office are: Infectious Clementina and Malignant Natoma. ---
**Author:** ![emmaliminal](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/7bcc69/32.png) [@emmaliminal](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/emmaliminal)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 12:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/27 "2003-07-29T00:18:24Z")
The engineered, nanomachine-breakdown-induced Tourette syndrome in Greg Bear’s _Slant_ ---
**Author:** ![Dragonblink](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/b9bd4f/32.png) [@Dragonblink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dragonblink)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 4:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/28 "2003-07-29T04:09:57Z")
Every once in a while I’ll find myself referring to **Jovian Crotchrot**. I must’ve read it somewhere, but can’t for the life of me remember where … ---
**Author:** ![Briny\_Deep](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/briny_deep/32/17188_2.png) [@Briny\_Deep](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Briny_Deep)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 4:41am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/29 "2003-07-29T04:41:50Z")
The Twibbit on occasion knows A difficulty with its toes. –Edward Gorey, _The Utter Zoo_ ---
**Author:** ![Mudshark](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/f04885/32.png) [@Mudshark](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Mudshark)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 6:31am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/30 "2003-07-29T06:31:49Z")
I always liked the Andromeds Strain. ---
**Author:** ![Orange\_Skinner](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/3be4f8/32.png) [@Orange\_Skinner](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Orange_Skinner)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/31 "2003-07-29T08:04:29Z")
Captain Trips, from _The Stand_. ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/32 "2003-07-29T14:47:38Z")
Xenovirus Takis-A, **The Wild Card Virus** (90% die, 9% deformed, 1% get superpowers!) At the risk of being set straight by **Ukulele Ike** , **mummy rot**? does **Reefer Madness** count? ---
**Author:** ![gonzoron](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/a6a055/32.png) [@gonzoron](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gonzoron)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 2:47pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/33 "2003-07-29T14:47:42Z")
Xenovirus Takis-A, **The Wild Card Virus** (90% die, 9% deformed, 1% get superpowers!) At the risk of being set straight by **Ukulele Ike** , **mummy rot**? does **Reefer Madness** count? ---
**Author:** ![gallows\_fodder](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/g/8c91f0/32.png) [@gallows\_fodder](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/gallows_fodder)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 3:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/34 "2003-07-29T15:24:18Z")
The Red Fever, from Victor Kelleher’s _The Red King_. ---
**Author:** ![Armilla](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/e19b73/32.png) [@Armilla](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Armilla)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 8:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/35 "2003-07-29T20:59:13Z")
I think, just for the heartbreaking weirdness of it all, the Merlin sickness from _Hyperion_ by Dan Simmons. ---
**Author:** ![LabRat](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/898d66/32.png) [@LabRat](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/LabRat)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 9:19pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/36 "2003-07-29T21:19:32Z")
I thought that DFSW’s (Delicate Flower of Southern Womanhood) got dewey when they were too hot. ---
**Author:** ![pravnik](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/8edcca/32.png) [@pravnik](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/pravnik)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 9:52pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/37 "2003-07-29T21:52:21Z")
Spontaneous pan-corporeal organ rejection Transdermal vomiting Ingrown brains Explosive urethral exsanguination Rockin’ pnuemonia Boogie-woogie flu Cat scratch fev…wait, nevermind 24-hour Down’s syndrome Death by chocolate ---
**Author:** ![as\_u\_wish](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/6f9a4e/32.png) [@as\_u\_wish](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/as_u_wish)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 10:28pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/38 "2003-07-29T22:28:29Z")
Mr. **as-u\_wish** asks me to post PMS. He claims it’s fictional. Comments are about to be made. He may survive. Report at 10. ---
**Author:** ![sleeping](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/839c29/32.png) [@sleeping](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sleeping)\ **Post date:** [July 29, 2003, 11:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/39 "2003-07-29T23:57:47Z")
Tumorsyphillisitisosis (from Family Guy). ---
**Author:** ![theendisnear](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/a4c791/32.png) [@theendisnear](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/theendisnear)\ **Post date:** [July 30, 2003, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/favorite-fictional-diseases/191333/40 "2003-07-30T00:22:54Z")
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