Disease

A disease was a detrimental medical condition that was not an injury.
==Description==
A disease could be transmitted in various ways: injury (e.g., a bite from an infected creature), ingestion (e.g., of contaminated substances or the flesh of an infected creature), inhalation (e.g., of an infected creature's breath or of spores), mere contact (e.g., with an infected creature, especially with an open wound), etc. Some were also caused by parasites. Creatures exposed to a disease ran the risk of becoming infected unless their immune system could fight it off. If the exposed individual lacked a strong enough constitution, the disease took hold. After an incubation period, the disease showed its symptoms, which persisted until the host was cured of the disease or died of it. Even before any symptoms became apparent, many disease carriers could unknowingly infect others during the incubation period. Furthermore, not all creatures were impacted equally by all diseases: an illness that manifested only mild symptoms in one species might be life-threatening to another (for example, humans were said to be more likely to die of influenza than were other races), and in some cases, creatures might spread a disease to which they themselves were immune. Depending on the disease, those who recovered from it naturally might gain a resistance or immunity against reinfection.
Both ordinary disease as well as parasitic infections were generally more common in hotter and wetter climates, in places close to marshes or swamps, and in filthy or crowded conditions. Contagious diseases spread readily in heavily or densely populated cities throughout Toril—where filthy sewers provided even more ideal conditions for a variety of maladies to thrive—as well as along heavily trafficked trade routes. When new or unknown diseases arose, most often this happened in rural or frontier settlements where the people encountered previously unknown afflictions while interacting with remote insects, beasts, and plants. This was especially a concern in terrains which acted as breeding grounds for disease carriers (namely wetlands) as well as anywhere in proximity to portals to the Lower Planes or areas in which necromancy had ever been used to spread plague (e.g., the Fields of Nun in Chondath).
There was a generally important distinction between diseases which were "natural" and those which were "supernatural" or otherwise magical in origin. Natural diseases were acquired by mundane means, so even the most exotic of them could be treated (although perhaps not cured) with traditional or nonmagical care. Mundane fevers could usually be cured if treatment was provided in a timely manner, although the role of ordinary medicine in the case of many diseases or parasitic infections was simply to slow the course of the malady to allow for the body to recover naturally or to buy time until magical healing could be obtained. Meanwhile, supernatural diseases were generally incurable or untreatable with natural or normal medical efforts. Such magical diseases were often spread by magical creatures, such as lycanthropes or mummies.
==Diseases in Society==
People feared disease, especially if they lived in areas where people were concentrated together. Whenever a disease struck in Faerûn, or wherever folk feared that it would, they prayed and made offerings to the goddess Talona, the Mistress of Disease and Mother of Plagues. A common practice was to drip three drops of blood or tears—in homage to her holy symbol of three droplets in a triangle pattern—into or onto something or someone that was diseased, such as the mouth of a sick person, a tainted well, or blighted crops. For many folk, such acts of observance were seen as an obligation to placate the capricious goddess rather than a desire to venerate her. The Church of Talona had a tenuous relationship with most other folk of Faerûn: on one hand, they were blessed with an immunity to disease, which made them valued doctors and healers in times of sickness. On the other hand, they were known to spread sickness themselves, especially to those they felt had disrespected their goddess, and this made them generally feared and disliked. Open worship of Talona was even banned in some places, such as in Waterdeep during the late 15 century DR.
The most well-known diseases in Faerûn included the so-called Five Fevers and Three Plagues.
===Prevention and Treatment===
When it came to practical means of preventing or treating diseases, most people in Faerûn had no real medical knowledge and therefore relied on past experience, either re-using methods that had helped themselves or close associates in the past or seeking the counsel of elders and the like. In general, folk had at least some shared understanding about how certain diseases were transmitted, and a baseline agreement about the importance of cleanliness, rest, and the use of purgatives to treat illness. In regions where there existed a risk of insect-borne diseases, folk made use of a variety of insect repellents to prevent illness. The importance of caregiving was also widely accepted, especially in regards to keeping the ill covered (or at least out of direct sunlight), treating them gently, keeping them hydrated, and administering herbal medicines and potions. Beyond this, however, there were many disagreements about treatment methods, which was the case for at least two main reasons: first, there was the aforementioned reliance on personal experience—which could differ between individuals or groups—and second, there was false information that was intentionally spread. While some falsehoods were spread by evil factions with the goal of causing strife—such as by followers of Talona—other times they were spread by otherwise benevolent factions or churches—such as the Guild of Apothecaries and Physicians of Waterdeep—in an effort to exert political influence or to secure more coin for healing services.
While magic was perhaps the most reliable way to treat mundane diseases—such as with the spells remove disease, lesser restoration, or greater restoration—it was possible to treat even serious illnesses by nonmagical means, although such treatment took many days and could cost as much as 50 gp per day as of the mid-to-late 14 century DR. Folk often sought out such treatment not only if they feared that they could not afford magical services, but also if they did not have an affiliation with a deity. For milder ailments—such as headaches, upset stomach, or the common cold—nonmagical care was sometimes the only option because priestly spellcasters saw these as too trivial to treat.
Most medicines were nonmagical, even if they were called "potions" by common folk (mundane bottled medicines were more appropriately called "physics"), and most of these were made from herbs. Almost all folk in Faerûn had some basic familiarity with at least a few herbal remedies passed down through family, and many folk kept herbs in their homes (both fresh and dried, for there was generally little medicinal difference). In addition, even very small settlements often had an herbalist with knowledge about herbal remedies, and larger settlements tended to have at least one apothecary and perhaps a hedge wizard or a local priest who could provide similar knowledge even if they could not provide magical aid. Some herbal medicines known or thought to aid in treating diseases included: the bark of a felsul tree to quell nausea and ease sore throat, harlthorn boiled with hoof-leaf to soothe both delirium and skin rashes, tatterskyre bark to thicken the blood and staunch internal bleeding, and tonandurr bark to prevent infections in open wounds. Some claimed that chives and leeks were useful for treating disease.
===Plagues===
Plagues on Toril could arise from natural, arcane, or divine causes, and tended to occur during times of deprivation, such as following a war or famine. Diseases generally turned into widespread plagues only when a population had never encountered them before. While terrible plagues periodically ravaged Faerûn, such widespread disease was largely a problem of the past by the 14 century DR because most people were the descendants of survivors of plagues—and had inherited immunities from their ancestors—or had been exposed to various diseases since childhood and therefore developed immunities. Toril also had a long history of interspecies intermingling and crossbreeding, which boosted the population's resistance to disease.
Another reason why plagues were contained was that preventive measures were taken by priesthoods and rulers. This was done either through official enforcement, by secretly mixing medical substances into food and water, or collective action to contain outbreaks. For example, churches could band together stop a deadly plague in its tracks with few casualties, as happened with an outbreak of spotted plague in Iriaebor in 1367 DR. People who were obviously afflicted with a terrible disease might also simply be killed as a precaution, at least in frontier regions. On the Sea of Fallen Stars, it was a widespread practice that a ship carrying plague would signal this by smearing blood or red paint on their sails. In response, other vessels would provide clerical healing if available, otherwise they were advised to burn the plague ship to the waterline with fire arrows or spells. Along the Sword Coast, ships raised a black flag to signal the presence of plague when coming into port so that they would be quarantined and clerics would be sent to aid the crew.
The exception to the rule that plagues were no longer a problem was the goddess Talona. Whenever she felt that her power or faith was waning, she was prone to inflict a plague on the land or at least on a city that she felt had slighted her church. Examples of plagues said to have been inflicted by her for such reasons occurred in the , the , the , the , the , and especially in the (with the Great Plague of the Inner Sea).
==List of Diseases==
===Common Diseases===
The most common or well-known diseases in Faerûn were:
Name 	Other names 	Infection 	Incubation
Blacklung fever 	 	Inhalation	1 day
Blacktongue 	 	Ingestion 	1 to 4 days
Darkrot 	Gangrene 	Injury 	1 day
Featherlung 	 	Inhalation	1 to 3 days
Flesh rot 	Mummy rot, mummy disease 	Contact 	1 to 4 days
Foamjaws 	Darrdartha, rabies 	Injury 	7 to 10 days
Green rot 	Scaly death 	Injury 	1 day
Marsh fever 	Sallar, typhus 	Injury 	3 to 18 days
Lycanthropy 	 	Injury 	
Shaking fever 	 	Contact 	2 days
Shaking plague 	 	 	
Spotted plague 	 	Contact 	1 day
Whitewasting 	Wasting disease, leprosy 	Contact 	5 years
Winterchill fever	Windchill fever, pneumonia	Contact 	1 to 6 days
Other notable diseases included:
Name 	Other names 	Infection 	Incubation
All-consuming wasting	 	Injury 	1 day
Black rot 	 	 	
Blinding sickness 	River blindness 	Ingestion 	1 to 3 days
Bluerot 	 	Injury 	1 to 4 hours
Bog rot 	 	Injury 	1 to 4 days
Bubonic plague 	Black plague 	 	
Cackle fever 	 	Inhaled 	1 day
Cemetery rot 	 	Injury 	Instantaneous
Chaos phage 	Slaad fever 	Injury 	1 day
Cholera 	 	 	
Common cold 	 	 	
Consumption 	Tuberculosis 	 	
Creeping madness 	 	Spellplague	
Demon fever 	 	Injury 	1 day
Devil chills 	 	Injury 	1 to 4 days
Dysentery 	 	 	
Filth fever 	 	Injury 	1 to 3 days
Ghoul fever 	 	Injury 	1 day
Ghoul gut 	 	Ingestion 	Less than 1 day
Gout 	 	 	
Influenza 	Flu, grippe 	 	
Lockjaw 	Tetanus 	Injury 	Less than 1 day
Malaria 	 	Injury 	
Measles 	 	 	
Mindfire 	 	Inhalation 	1 day
Moon frenzy 	 	Injury 	Instantaneous
Mummy rot 	 	Injury 	Less than 1 day
Mumps 	 	 	
Red ache 	 	Injury 	1 to 3 days
Scurvy 	Blackjaws, sea fever, toothfall	 	
Swamp fever 	 	Injury 	12 hours
Sewer plague 	 	Injury 	1 to 4 days
The shakes 	Seizure 	Contact 	1 day
Sight rot 	 	Ingestion 	1 day
Slimy doom 	 	Contact 	1 day
Smallpox 	 	 	
Stiffstab 	Arthritis, jointstabs 	 	
Talona's grimace 	 	Inhalation 	Instantaneous
Throat leeches 	 	Parasite 	1 to 6 hours
Whooping cough 	 	 	
The wilting 	 	 	
===Regional Diseases===
Regional or localized diseases included:
Name 	Other names	Infection 	Incubation 	Region
Arcane blight 	 	 	12 hours 	Ythryn
Blue mist fever 	 	Contact 	1 to 6 hours 	Chult
Brain fluke 	 	Parasite 	 	Chult
Eating disease 	 	 	 	Chult
Gaki fever 	 	Injury 	2 hours 	Kara-Tur
Glow fever 	 	Injury 	 	Gontal
Grackle-lung 	 	Inhalation	1 day 	Gracklstugh
Grey Fever 	 	 	 	Grey Jungle
Halruaan consumption	 	 	 	Halruaa
Ivory Plague 	 	 	 	Kara-Tur
Lungrot 	 	Inhalation	1 to 4 hours 	Underdark
Mosquito fever 	 	Injury 	 	Halruaa
Scaleflake 	 	Contact 	1 to 3 days 	Underdark
Shivering sickness 	 	Injury 	2 to 12 hours	Chult
Softpox 	 	Contact 	1 day 	Underdark
===Plagues and Unique Diseases===
Notable plagues or other unique diseases included:
Name 	Other names 	Infection 	Incubation 	Date
Abyssal Plague 	 	Contact 	 	1479 DR
The Alley Plague 	 	Inhalation 	 	39 DR
The Ashes Plague 	 	 	 	229 DR
The Blush 	 	 	 	1374 DR
The Coast Plague 	 	 	 	1345 DR
Crimson Death 	 	 	 	755 DR
Dream Fever 	 	Net of dreams 	 	1367 DR
The Dragons' Plague 	 	 	 	1019 DR
The Empire Plague 	 	 	 	-375 DR
The Flower Plague 	 	 	 	-52 DR
The Fog Fever 	 	Inhalation 	 	75 DR
Fury 	 	Injury 	 	1480 DR
The Infernal Death 	 	 	 	320 DR
Leper's Curse 	 	 	 	354 DR
The Moon Plague 	 	Injury 	 	701 DR
Panicked Plague 	 	 	 	472 DR
Plague of Dragons 	Great Plague of the Inner Sea	 	 	1317 DR
The Plague of Scholars 	 	 	 	-16 DR
Plague of Terror 	 	 	 	-4770 DR
The Pox 	 	 	 	1373 DR
Prayerbane Plague 	 	 	 	375 DR
Purplethroat Plague 	 	 	 	303 DR
Putrescent Anathema 	 	 	 	1395 DR
Saprophytic plague 	 	Close proximity	1 to 4 hours	1492 DR
Silent Death 	 	 	 	-4370 DR
The Spider Plagues 	 	 	 	-599 DR
Stoneplague 	 	 	 	1480 DR
The Sunset Plague 	 	 	 	-3332 DR
The Temples Plague 	 	Contact 	 	-676 DR
Unidentified disease (Vilhon Reach)	 	 	 	1350s DR
Wailing Death 	 	 	 	1372 DR
The Warrior's Plague 	 	Contact 	 	-4900 DR
The Wasting Plague 	 	 	 	-30400 DR
===Non-Humanoid Diseases===
Diseases affecting creatures other than humanoids included:
Name 	Other names	Infection	Incubation	Creature
Astralomitis	 	 	 	Astral dragons
Scaleshed 	Wyrm-molt 	 	 	Dragons
Tube wilt 	 	 	 	Treants
Vine-blight 	 	 	 	Grapes
==Appendix==
===See Also===
* Curses
* Heartstop
* Frostbite
===References===
 
Category:Biology