Gutter Cough

Gutter Cough is a highly virulent disease which periodically reoccurs in larger cities. It is categorized by a severe racking cough, followed by muscle spasms and paralysis

Transmission & Vectors

Gutter Cough is an airborne virus, transmitted through tiny droplets of saliva when a victim coughs. For this reason, Gutter Cough is at its most infectious in the early stages before severe symptoms begin to manifest.

Causes

The disease is caused by a viral infection. Typically the virus takes root in the lungs and begins to cause muscle spasms in the diaphragm leading to both pulmonary adema and severe coughing.

Symptoms

Early stages manifest as a mild cough. Over the course of about a week, this cough becomes more severe, racking the patient's body. In around half of the cases, the disease does not progress any further than this, with the immune system able to fight off the infection. In the remaining cases, after about a week the disease enters the second stage, causing muscle spasms and periods of temporary paralysis. At this stage the disease can become deadly, as without aid it is possible for patients to become paralysed in a position preventing the fluid draining from their lungs, leading to dry drowning. After a few days the disease then enters the final stages. The patient becomes delirious, manifesting a severe and unrelenting fever, and a permanent paralysis will set in. The patient will begin to have seizures, and eventually their organs will shut down and they will die.

Treatment

In the initial stages, treatment typically consists of bed rest, fluids and observation. Low level curative magics can alleviate symptoms; while higher level magics are believed to be able to cure the disease at the initial stages.
In the second stage, treatment typically includes mild muscle relaxants - brewed from strychos seeds or from hemlock. This helps to alleviate the bouts of paralysis. At this stage, medical professionals will try to keep the patient upright to prevent fluid pooling in the lungs. At this stage all but the most powerful curative magics merely provide a break in the symptoms.
If the disease proceeds to the third stage, once total paralysis has set in then there is little to do but make the patient comfortable. Curative magics may be able to force the disease back into the second stage once or twice, but death is likely inevitable

Prognosis

Untended, around one third of all cases of Gutter Cough will be fatal - most deaths occuring in the second stage. With medical intervention, the amount of cases which will proceed to the third stage are approximately one in twenty

Cultural Reception

Gutter Cough, as the name suggests, spreads rapidly in enclosed, cramped and dirty conditions. As such, it is often seen as a disease of the poor, with most outbreaks beginning and quickly spreading through the poor quarters of cities.

Type

Viral

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Rare