Disco Fever
General health of mole people
The history of the species of mole people is quite unusual, some might even say a bit convoluted. They underwent genetic “modification”, along with having to survive in brutal conditions of the apocalyptic years. This allowed only the strongest and most resilient to survive and, coincidentally, weeded out many of the diseases the old species the moles have descended from had to face. Though a lot of the diseases became a thing of the past, there is one, long forgotten disease that seems to have reemerged in recent times. This is no other than so-called disco fever.
Dancing Plague of 1518 [1]
This strange disease reportedly first appeared in the year 1518 before the apocalypse. In the incident, the then called dancing plague seemed to have been quite contagious. What started with a single woman, seemingly unable to cease dancing, quickly spread among people, infecting up to 400 people and killing up to 15 people every day over the course of the next few months. But as unexpectedly as this plague came about, it ended in similarly unexpected fashion, not to be heard of again for centuries.
Beginning of Disco Fever
It’s not entirely sure when the first reported case of this disease occured in the modern era, but it is widely believed it occurred at one of the earlier Lanternfests celebrated in Wasteland. Finally being able to celebrate and dance, it was no surprise someone got a bit too excited. Even death wasn’t a completely unexpected outcome. Maybe this is one of the reasons why there are so few reports about the disease from early years.
But sooner or later people started noticing something wasn’t quite right. Every now and again someone would start dancing and find themselves unable to stop. This could last for hours, days even, and in some cases this attack of uncontrollable dancing would result in the person’s death. Luckily enough, the disease doesn’t seem to be as contagious as the one in the history was, so these are only isolated cases. Due to the uncontrollable dancing, the disease was soon named “disco fever”
Causes, Symptoms Treatement and Prevention
Similarly to the dancing plague of 1518, there is very little information about the modern day disco fever as well. No one knows what causes it, though it seems to be triggered by listening to upbeat music, the kind that makes the listener want to get up and dance - except they can’t stop. As said, the uncontrollable dancing may last for hours, days even, resulting in exhaustion, dehydration, or in severe cases even death. As of now, there is no known cure either. All anyone can do is provide the sufferer with water and food, hoping that the dancing attack will end soon, before the sufferer would die. There is some debate about whether giving the sufferer energy drinks is helpful or only makes the situation worse. On one hand it will provide him with extra energy he’ll need to endure the disease, but then again it might be better to hope he’ll pass out from exhaustion sooner and get much needed rest this way.
After the attack is over, plenty of bedrest is recommended for the patient to recuperate. It’s important to get enough sleep, food and water during this time.
Though less fatal than its ancient version, it’s the mystery of the disease that scares people. You never know what may cause it or when, you can’t know how long it may last, or if you may even end up dead because of it. This is why people tend to be cautious and do what they can to try to prevent it from happening to begin with.
One thing that seems to be widely recommended by doctors is exercise. As theory goes, you’re more likely to fall victim to disco fever if you spend a lot of time cooped up indoors. This way your body doesn’t have a chance to get rid of the excess energy, which then piles up inside of you until it breaks out of you in the form of uncontrollable dance. With enough fresh air and exercise, you can expend this energy in a healthier way, which isn’t only a way to avoid disco fever, but beneficial to one’s general mental and physical wellbeing.
Concerns and Further Reasearch
Perhaps because people strive for living healthy lifestyles with enough exercise, disco fever isn’t a very common disease, and fatalities are rare, especially in recent years. Regardless, rogue cases may occur in otherwise healthy individuals, so the disease is still very much a concern for many. But the disease being relatively rare is one of the factors in why it is so poorly researched to begin with. With more questions than answers, doctors still research disco fever, its causes, symptoms and treatments. Who knows, maybe one day the disease will disappear from our world on its own, like the one in ancient times did.
A depiction of disco fever in Big Book of Lame Jokes
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