NEW Infection Theory

[Drogon Malice]

I'm not sure if this is going to help, but When Tanya first arrives at the tower they talk about the person that wAs infected, but took a very long time to change. She also mentions that they used the heaviest doses of antibiotics on him and that if saul was infected he would have turned by now.. i'm not sure if she mentioned anything else about the the person that took a very long time to turn, like always I listened to it while getting to sleep.. I wil listen to the episode again to find out, if I don't fall asleep again

yeah she said that the others in the colony killed him off because they were paranoid or something if memory serves

[Robzombie]

no no no, they had to "put him down" because they knew the drugs weren't doing shit.

[Drogon Malice]

if that's the case, then Saul couldn't of been a slow turner, it must of just been blood poisoning, its a slim to none chance that Saul AND Tonya by genetic default are immune to it, if he was immune, wouldn't he then fought off the disease and got better on his own after the operation?

Assumption: which now means if there is a difference in time it takes to turn between normals and people with celiac disease then this could be proven as it would provide it with evidence. am i correct in this assumption?

[PhysicsLB]

You seem to be confusing Zedism with blood poisoning. They are two separate things with two separate causes.

We are postulating that Zedism is virulent or bacterial in nature. This can't be confirmed until we determine how Tanya and Saul avoided turning.

Blood poisoning was actually a clever bit of writing. It's bacterial in nature, meaning it can only be treated with antibiotics. No one is immune to blood poisoning. What this does, is keeps the source of Zedism a mystery. If its bacterial, the antibiotics could have wiped it out. If its viral, then its possible saul was immune and only dying from blood poisoning. So in essence, it gives us a nice bit of drama concerning an "infected" comrade without revealing anything we didnt already know about the disease.

Also, i think you are misunderstanding genetic immunity. If either saul or tanya is immune on a genetic level, then there is a VERY GOOD CHANCE they are both immune. In all likelihood, saul inheirited his immunity from tanya...that's how these things work.

[LiamKerrington]

If either saul or tanya is immune on a genetic level, then there is a VERY GOOD CHANCE they are both immune. In all likelihood, saul inheirited his immunity from tanya...that's how these things work.

Unless Saul's father's genes are dominant and would nullify the genetically based zed-immunity from Tanya's genes ... If things were so simple, then either both parents need to have the genetic disposition for this kind of immunity, or Tanya's immunity must be dominant in order to have the given effect on Saul as well.

But after all: We don't know if Tanya is immun. Sure. She had bite-marks. And she got bitten by a slow turner. But was the slow turner already capable of infecting its prey? Or was the zed-agent in it not ripe yet when it bit Tanya ... ? This, I think, is a very important question in my eyes ...

Good night, best wishes!
Liam

[PhysicsLB]

And really that's the whole point behind how it was written. It adds drama without removing any of the mystery. We can sit here and suppose all day but we really have zero information to actually go on.

The key pieces of evidence here are:
1. Were they actually infected? both situations were through vectors that definitely aren't ideal for the transfer of the disease.

2. Bacterial or viral? The first question is also kind of moot until we determine whether the pathogen was cured via antibiotics or immunity.

Assumptions:
1. If they were both infected...
a. and the antibiotics worked: then they will work on anyone, except those who are already turned.
b. they were immune: Then it's hereditary (assuming dominant trait, which is the likeliest case). And everyone else is screwed.

2. If they were not: we got trolled.

[Malador]

Exposure to a contagion is not necessary for individuals to have an immunity to it. Heterozygitic (recessive) sickle cell sickness, which causes no illness in the subject, grants immunity to malaria, since the protozoa that causes it can't live inside of the red blood cells. The Duffy antigen, another genetic mutation, causes increased threats from some sickness, but immunity to malaria as well as a very high resistance to AIDS. All that is necessary is the right genetic abnormality, or exposure to a virus with a similar enough vector that the body has a way to fight it. Edward Jenner developed the first vaccine for smallpox by infecting people with cow pox, after he noticed that those who contracted it never got small pox.

As for Tommy's celiac disease, one of it's symptoms are vitamin and mineral deficiencies, due to the inflammation of the small intestine. This would lead to his iron count being lower than normal, and leads me to believe that a small area of exposure (the cut) to the zedogen lead to his slow turn rate.

[scbubba]

Dang! Look at all the science going on in here. Very cool stuff!

I like the conversation about immunity vs drug treatment for Saul's sickness and recovery. The question I have after following this thread of discussion is "how does Saul's behavior at ground zero factor into this?"

That is, his lack of a response to whatever it was that made everyone else have such a violent and immediate reaction might affect how we think about it. For example, if the meds are keeping Zedism (love that term) at bay, then shouldn't Saul have some reaction to the Ground Zero stuff, even if it is a mild/lesser one, since it would have to get into his body and then be attacked by the antibiotics? I'm not a medical professional and i didn't stay at a Holiday Inn Express last night, so I may be missing a lot about how this stuff works....

Back to your intelligent discussions...

[LiamKerrington]

Ground Zero and Saul ... Scbubba: This is a very good question ... I could imagine a couple of reasons why Saul was not affected:

a) maybe his genes, according to the above discussion, simply won't allow the Zedism-factor to connect with his body and biochemical procedures;
b) or maybe the Ground Zero contamination interacts with Saul'S biochemical procedures, but it does not affect him at all;
c) or maybe the antibiotics stimulate Saul's body to produce certain hormons or pheromons which repell the Zed-agent in the air of Ground Zero;
d) or any combination of a) through c) or variation of them.

It really is hard to tell. I so much hope that Tanya will be able to produce some more serious blood-examination - especially now that she has plenty of zombie-stuff available. She will be able to make the destinctions and draw the proper conclusions.

Best wishes!
Liam

[PhysicsLB]

Again, crafty writing on Kc's part. We don't know if saul is unaffected by ground zero due to anibiotics or inheirant immunity. Adding to the mystery without giving anything away. It's really impressive.

Also, Malador, thanks for bringing up the bit about genetic abnormalities. That's something that hasnt been considered yet. It very well could be a physical difference that kept him from turning.

So since nothing about the cause/possible immunity/cure can be determined without more information, what about ideas on what actually happening to those that ARE infected? We're seeing rapid physical mutation, coupled with mental degredation. Is there anything that has abilities close to this in the real world? How are these changes taking place? Is it a DNA weaponizing agent a-la prometheus? Or could it possibly be a parasite like resident evil 4 (i realize this throws our immunity theories out the window...)?

Ideas guys? Lets put some out there and try to narrow things down with science and stuff.