Saul and Tanya... Family Immune?

[Zombiephyllic]

Can we confirm that Sauls first encounter with Zombie blood was actually at the very beginning when he first cut off the Zombies head in the garage of the tower? This happens in the first chapter. Saul was supposed to leave his bloodied knife down stairs but brought it up anyways, and he says he washed it off... but how I wonder?

That was the first time he had "close contact". Saul just said he "cleaned it off" so I doubt he used water. If it were me I would have just used a clean part of the clothes of the headless zombie.

[bradarro11]

has anyone thought that since Tanya is "immune" that she figured out a drug cocktail to stop the transformation? She did say she "studied" several people in various stages of infection, WHICH would mean she used a variety of drug combos to see what will slow/stop/kill the infection!

I would also think she used herself as a guinea pig when she was bit and also used it on Saul after his injury to insure his protection against the infection...


Anyone think this is the most likely of the scenarios?

i have to say though, why now that she is under quarantine, she wouldnt shout this amazing cure from the rooftops! doesnt make sense... if she has the combination to slow/stop/kill the infection then kimet and micheal shouldve been the first people she shouldve told... i follow the theory that their (tanya and saul) blood line has a natural immunity to the infection. humans when turned act differently, some turn into normals others little ones, jumpers etc... so why wont a percentage of humans be immune ( thinking Will Smith in I am Legend). the total number of characters explored so far is pretty small compared to the earths populous.
i think its pretty much already written that lizzy's child will bring forth the cure/vacination for all remainig humans. i was thinking maybe lizzy gets attacked during labour, maybe bitten but baby arrives fine... dunno just speculation at this point!!

[Robzombie]

Thats been my take on it...about immunity and the baby...
I never fell for that drug cocktail theory, Saul was wounded for quite some time before his mom provided the anti-biotics, plus as mentioned above, there were other possible opportunities for him to potentially get infected, which he did not. I'm sure his immunity plays into the signifigance of the baby.

I've noticed that KC seems to constantly get zombie blood on Saul, yet Saul is so nonchalant about it. It's like he's trying to tell us he's immune and Saul knows it without just coming right out and saying it.

[Jannit]

I'm a little late to the party but better late than never, right? One thing that seems to be mentioned several times - and forgive me if this has already been mentioned - is that Tanya has mentioned several times that she can not find any differences between the zombie's skin and blood samples and her own. Has she had a chance to compare them against another person's samples? I'm not sure if that is relevant but if there IS some sort of infection or latent immunity to the zombie disease (dunno what else to call it) then wouldn't it make sense that her blood would look the same as the zombie's? This could be more proof of that immunity.

[Blues_127]

Is it just me, or does Saul & his Mom have a natural resistance? Thinking of the close calls Saul has had, his reaction to ground zero, and his mom's wound... something is there that makes others think she should turn... Not everyone seems so resiliant.

[Witch_Doctor]

Tanya actually says that the antibiotics were tried on the slow turner in Chapter 20. Also, note that she goes straight for the most powerful antibiotics she had available instead of building up to it with others. Another breadcrumb is CJ's suspiscion that the drugs have something to do with Saul's immunity at Ground Zero. Also supporting the drug solution is the fact that we have not seen evidence of anyone else being immune other than Saul and Tanya.

This raises some questions.
Lizzie's baby immunity? If Saul was born immune then this is plausible. If he is immune via drugs then this doesn't help the baby as he was concieved BEFORE Tanya arrives with the antibiotics.
If he was not born immune then how did he fight infection for so long? Is he a slow turner? If so then why did Tommy turn so fast? Is slow turnerism a genetic trait? Why didn't the antibiotics help the first slow turner? Maybe Saul wasn't infected after all.
Perhaps the alcohol in his blood slowed the infection. He was the MOST pissed drunk at the party.

[Red Shirt]

Well shucks... I've been sitting on this because I missed out on the discussion during my on again, off again absence.

I think that the "genetically inherited" immunity is a red herring, and the immunity is actually simpler.

Anthrax Vaccination. If you are in the military and leave the country, you are going to get the Anthrax vaccination series. Tanya is a veterinarian and although all suggestions seem to point to her being a domestic pet specialist, I would say that it is possible that she also received the vaccination series. Usually, veterinarians that work with livestock will get them but LA is a big city with a lot of diverse cultures that may have "unusual" pets or even try to keep livestock at home. It may even be possible that Saul had the Anthrax Vaccination prior to the Army, working with his mom like he did.

Then again, maybe it isn't that simple. Tanya is old enough to have received the Small Pox Vaccination in her youth, Saul, like the Anthrax, would have received the Small Pox Vaccination before leaving the country for deployment. It could be a combination of the two. A trip to Ground Zero could sort it out. Michael, Muldoon and Robbins would all have had both, Puck not likely.

[scbubba]

Well shucks... I've been sitting on this because I missed out on the discussion during my on again, off again absence.

I think that the "genetically inherited" immunity is a red herring, and the immunity is actually simpler.

Anthrax Vaccination. If you are in the military and leave the country, you are going to get the Anthrax vaccination series. Tanya is a veterinarian and although all suggestions seem to point to her being a domestic pet specialist, I would say that it is possible that she also received the vaccination series. Usually, veterinarians that work with livestock will get them but LA is a big city with a lot of diverse cultures that may have "unusual" pets or even try to keep livestock at home. It may even be possible that Saul had the Anthrax Vaccination prior to the Army, working with his mom like he did.

Then again, maybe it isn't that simple. Tanya is old enough to have received the Small Pox Vaccination in her youth, Saul, like the Anthrax, would have received the Small Pox Vaccination before leaving the country for deployment. It could be a combination of the two. A trip to Ground Zero could sort it out. Michael, Muldoon and Robbins would all have had both, Puck not likely.

Good theory. They only folks we have 1st hand evidence of a Ground Zero are Saul and Victor. We have so little to go on for Victor, though, regarding whether any of these might apply to him. CJ's people went there and at least one turned but I think they all got sick. Little likelihood of any of them being overseas veterans? Probably.

We have seen other soldiers turn but no idea about their backgrounds. Several were Fort Irwin people and we know some from Michael/Saul/Angel's Guard unit as well. No direct information, but I have to think that since the Guard unit had at least 2 guys that had been over, they probably had others. Same for Irwin.

Anyway, I'm still not firmly in the genetic immunity camp. There are several things that Tanya and Saul have in common beyond DNA....

[Grognaurd]

Good theory. They only folks we have 1st hand evidence of a Ground Zero are Saul and Victor. We have so little to go on for Victor, though, regarding whether any of these might apply to him. CJ's people went there and at least one turned but I think they all got sick. Little likelihood of any of them being overseas veterans? Probably.

We have seen other soldiers turn but no idea about their backgrounds. Several were Fort Irwin people and we know some from Michael/Saul/Angel's Guard unit as well. No direct information, but I have to think that since the Guard unit had at least 2 guys that had been over, they probably had others. Same for Irwin.

Anyway, I'm still not firmly in the genetic immunity camp. There are several things that Tanya and Saul have in common beyond DNA....

I think Victor and Pegs got a taste of Ground Zero when they strayed on their way to LAX. Poor victor has gotten it twice

[Red Shirt]

Good theory. They only folks we have 1st hand evidence of a Ground Zero are Saul and Victor. We have so little to go on for Victor, though, regarding whether any of these might apply to him. CJ's people went there and at least one turned but I think they all got sick. Little likelihood of any of them being overseas veterans? Probably.

We have seen other soldiers turn but no idea about their backgrounds. Several were Fort Irwin people and we know some from Michael/Saul/Angel's Guard unit as well. No direct information, but I have to think that since the Guard unit had at least 2 guys that had been over, they probably had others. Same for Irwin.

Anyway, I'm still not firmly in the genetic immunity camp. There are several things that Tanya and Saul have in common beyond DNA....

That's a good point and a complication for this train of thought. We know that at least one of CJ's crew was SWAT, s/he was on the convoy that got hit. I think it's likely that there were several cops and prior service at Dunbar.

The attack on Bell, the Reserve Base in the beginning... I have a feeling that it is likely that of that horde, many were the very Reservists that were trying to get there. I also suggest that they got attacked on the way to the Reserve Center rather than succumbing to the Inglewood Haze. Now, this could be chalked up as special pleading, but I think there might be a difference between succumbing to the haze and turning due to getting attacked... The soldiers we have seen or have evidence of turning were the result of direct attack.