Infection

## Description

**Infection** may be contracted if you are hit by a Zombie or a hostile Animal. It has four stages of progression and will kill the infected player if it progresses to the fourth stage. Getting hit by zombies while infected will increase the infection level. The lower a players health the greater the chance a zombie attack has of inflicting a debuff such as Infection.

You can treat Infection with the use of Antibiotics, Herbal Antibiotics, or Jar of Honey. A treated infection does not cause as much Stamina loss and will slowly decrease the infection magnitude by an amount based on the strength of the medicine used. Antibiotics reduce infection by 25%, Herbal Antibiotics by 10%, and Honey by 5%. At lower levels of infection it is recommended to use the least powerful medicine available that will cure the Infection.

Vitamins prevent new cases of Infection for the duration of their buff, but will not cure or reduce any existing infections.

## Infection Stages

### Stage 1 - Untreated

"You have a mild infection. It will get worse until treated by antibiotics. Getting hit by zombies or animals will make an infection worse."

* No changes to Health or Stamina at this stage.
* Duration 1 hour in real time, or up to 14% of the gauge.

### Stage 1 - Treated

"You have a treated mild infection. Continue medication until infection is cleared up."

* No changes to Health or Stamina at this stage.
* Lasts until medicine wears off or Infection magnitude reaches 0% and is cured.

### Stage 2 - Untreated

"You have a serious infection. If left untreated it could lead to severe infection which can cause death. Take antibiotics as soon as possible."

* -25% Stamina regeneration.
* Duration 3 hours in real time, or up to 57% of the gauge.

### Stage 2 - Treated

"You have a treated serious infection. Continue medication and keep an eye on the wound."

* -12.5% Stamina regeneration.
* Lasts until medicine wears off or the Infection drops to Stage 1 Treated Infection.

### Stage 3 - Untreated

"You have a life threatening severe infection. Take antibiotics immediately."

* -35% Stamina regeneration.
* -1 to all attributes.
* Duration 3 hours in real time, or up to 100% of the gauge.

### Stage 3 - Treated

"You have a treated life threatening severe infection. Continue Medication and avoid contact with infectious substances."

* -17% Stamina regeneration.
* -1 to all attributes.
* Lasts until medicine wears off or the Infection drops to Stage 2 Treated Infection.

### Stage 4

"You have died from an infection."

* Instant death.

## Treatment

It is possible to treat Infection by using various infection-curing medicines. The infection is slowly cured by a Treated Infection buff, given by these items:

* Jar of Honey will cure 5% of Infection.
* Herbal Antibiotics will cure 10% of Infection.
* Antibiotics will cure 25% of Infection.

When a player with Infection fully treats it to 0% the Infection debuff will be removed.

## Prevention

The most effective way to avoid infection is to not get hit, which is a skill-based tactic and can be allieviated for new players by using spears, guns ( which will attract more zombies and should be used by people who generally know how to handle them properly ) and avoiding melee combat in-doors as it's very easy to get stun-locked in a small room. Vitamins won't cure infections, but can be taken prior to a fight to avoid infection.

Infection has a chance of being applied when a character suffers a Critical Hit. Critical Hits are more common the lower a character's health, or if the character is Stunned. Painkillers prevent stun and restore health.

Investing one point into The Brawler perk will give you the ability to prevent enemies from infecting anyone. Punching an enemy in the head with bare fists or will inflict a debuff that permanently prevents them from inflicting infection with melee attacks. This does protect players other than the one who punched the enemy. Range attacks such as an Infected Police Officer's vomit can still carry a chance of infection.

## Notes

* When dying from the infection, a player does not become a zombie, as it is a wound infection rather than a zombie infection.
* Non-Zombie Animals that are hostile do carry the Infection, and can inflict it with their bites.
* Infection cannot be passed from one player to another.
* Infection cannot be inflicted on any NPC's. For instance a Bear cannot be infected and turned into a Zombie Bear.
* Stage 4 inflicts an extremely large amount of damage when it begins, which cannot be survived in ordinary gameplay, and as such is fatal and causes an instant death.