Hemophagia is a condition that infects a sufferer’s bloodstream. The initial point of transmission is a microscopic parasite that reaches a victim’s blood one way or another. This parasite breeds within the blood and spreads over time given enough sustenance, that being nutrients carried by various lifeforms’ blood. A single body can host the initial infection without symptoms, allowing it to run dormant, and not spread from this host. Eventually, symptoms begin occurring when the infection starts to run rampant, which include, but are not limited to:
-A thirst for blood
-A quickened healing factor
-Aversion to food/drink
-Severe pain when symptoms begin to show
As the infection spreads, these symptoms compound and become more powerful, many suffering from hemophagia complaining about the constant desire to drink blood from those nearby, reporting wounds that otherwise may have taken days or weeks to heal stitching together in a matter of hours, and not being able to keep a meal down at all. Combine this with the onset of internal pain as vital organs begin to physically decay from the lack of nutrients and oxygen being brought to them. Amazingly, the parasites in some manner of symbiosis begin to replace the functions of these organs. Breathing becomes unnecessary as the lungs are replaced by an anaerobic process. The blood itself is pumped along not by the heart, but by the microorganisms themselves. And so on.
Attempts to come up with a cure to this disease have thus far proven difficult if not downright impossible due to the nature of the disease. The blood volume becomes a transmission vector due to the constant flood of these organisms taking up residence in the blood. The reproductive rate proves to be too efficient for a complete transfusion to get rid of them, and as the infestation takes over the body, the immune system is rendered nigh useless due to the way the parasite ‘tricks’ the body in to believing it belongs there, highlighting some measure of intelligence within the parasites.
The immune system, in this case, is able to work with the parasite in fighting off diseases, which is as beneficial as it is another roadblock in attempts to cure it. Any engineered disease designed to be an attack vector against the parasites is fought off by the body. Attempts to fight the disease with harsher methods have resulted in many cases of death or similar.
Victims of this disease are often caught unaware, due to the dormancy period and the relative rarity of the condition. The expected transmission would be through bites, but as the parasites only occupy one’s blood, this isn’t worthy of worry unless blood is transferred.
The 4CA has thus far opened several studies on the disease, with the worry of an outbreak always on the forefront of their mind. Integrating and rehabilitating hemophages has been a struggle due to the natural stigma behind a life altering disease. Declaration of it has become mandatory because the progression of the disease when untreated leads to insanity, the constant unyielding craving for blood. This can, and has caused incidents in the past.
In return for the declaration, the 4CA provides medical assistance in the form of rationed out blood to feed the cravings, and suppressants to keep the disease from developing as fast as it could naturally. It is recognized that sufferers of hemophagia are invaluable due to the natural progression of the disease. Medical workers have no need of biohazard level suits, because of the immunity to harmful diseases. EVA workers do not need to be provided oxygen. And workers in general do not need to be cared for as diligently with food and water as sustenance is derived from blood.
Where direct, personal oversight is not possible (such as the fringe cases on the Frontier), constant, scheduled appointments and check ups are necessary, as well as very carefully conducted blood tests to gauge the volume of parasites in a victim’s blood. Prescription of suppressants on a case-by-case basis is also necessary, and relevant documents and notes should all be faxed to the Ministry of Health.
For those that do not declare the disease, when they are caught, harsh consequences are to be expected in the same way that harboring any deadly, contagious disease would hold consequences. These consequences depend on the severity of any issues caused, and could range from anywhere in the realm of catch up paperwork and temporary isolation, to transfer to a medical-prison facility depending on the stage of the disease.