Febris Dextra {Vampirium}

The virus is transmitted through bites of a vampire. Not all bites are infectious, however, as vampires have learned how to bite and feed from humans without transmitting the disease.

Before "Vampiric Coma"

Those that receive the virus have flu like symptoms, along with the consequences of increased metabolic processes, rapid heart rate, excessive thirst, excessive sweating, and increased urination. The incubation period is 6-12 within first being infected. 12-24 after these symptoms first appear, the victim will slip into a "vampiric coma," where the true transformation happens. The coma is sometimes lethal. This coma typically lasts a day, and the victim almost always awakens at night. During the coma, it's almost like the victim is in an unconscious agony, as the body is going through numerous anatomical and physiological changes in a very short period. Pulse quickens, the victim sweats profusely, the pupils dilate, and significant weight is lost. Elderly and young victims typically don't survive. A period of acclimation takes place after the victim awakens, characterized by confusion and paranoia, often joined by thirst and malnutrition. Within a day, though, the final transformation is complete, and the "victim" is now a threat to those around them. All the final changes happen within a week.  

After "Vampiric Coma"

The virus works in a process of horizontal gene transfer. This changes many things about the vampire physically and psychologically.   The virus causes a decrease in serotonin levels, which would normally temper urges. Neural pathways associated with dopamine and endorphins are increased, specifically in response to feeding. Circadian rhythms are also reversed to accomodate their new nocturnal biology. The amygdala in the brain is larger, approximately 7% larger, and the visual cortex is now 13% larger. Synaptic interconnections between the interior cingulate gyrus and the rest of the brain are lowered, almost as if the core of the brain is being isolated from the neocortex. The corpus callosum is 20% larger, allowing for almost instant communication between hemispheres. Interneuron density and cortical folding and lamination far exceed normal parameters, particularly in the visual cortex. In short, vampires are omnisavants, with pattern recognition abilities and intelligence far beyond a normal human. The enlarged amygdala also faciliate vampires a level of perception that borders on precognition. On the other hand, this leads vampires more prone to obsessive habits.   Vampire motor nerve axons are nearly twice as thick as a normal human, resulting in lighting fast reflexes. Sight is a highly affected sense. Vampire irises are hyper dilated. Increased reflectivity causes the eyes to shimmer even in faint light, similar to the tapetum lucidum found in many nocturnal animals. Vampires also posses quadrochromatic vision. While humans only have three types of cone in their eyes, vampires have four, the fourth being tuned to near infared. All of this gives vampires vastly superior night vision, along with the ability to more easily discern similar shades of color from each other, although at the cost of severe sensitivity to light. Hypertrophic cerebal neurons and additional receptor cells dramatically increase hearing range and the same is true of smell. Hiding from a vampire is nearly impossible. Muscular composition is drastically altered during the vampiric coma, Human muscles are made of two mains types of fiber: fast twitch and slow twitch at a ratio of about 50:50. For vampires, 90% of their fibers are of the fast twitch variety, This, along with a significant increase in myoglobin and mitochondria, allows for a greater amount of activity without lactic acid build up, and elevated intercellular ATP not only means that vampires are fast and strong, they are nearly inexhaustible.   The heart is surprisingly not strengthened after the change; in fact, it's actually the exact opposite. Vampire circulatory systems undergo a complete inversion as the heart ceases to beat. Instead, blood is pumped via the contraction of skeletal muscle, and the heart eventually atrophies due to disuse. While at rest, involuntary spasms known as "fasciculations" take place in the limbs as emanate from the furthest extremities inwards, similar to wave like peristalsis of the GI tract. As a result, hand tremors can be a dead giveaway to a vampire.   Around three days after awakening from the coma, blood circulation begins to slow, especially in the epidermal capillaries. At the same time, cappillaries in the core begin to proliferate drawing blood away from the skin and into the trunk, giving vampires their pale pallor. During the later half of the vampiric coma, both the upper and lower teeth experience extremely rapid growth. Produced inside the pulp, it appears that specialized ameloblasts travel through the narrow pores of the denton and crown, and upon reaching the surface, will deposit additional enamel onto its tip, creating a sharp fang. Vampire saliva contains anticoagulant calls draculin, a glycoproten also found in the saliva of vampire bats. Another salivary constituent causes an anesthetic affect on a victim.   A side affect of the virus is the inability to synthesize PCDH-Y, a protein responsible for certain aspects of central nervous system development. Since this protein only occurs in hominids, human blood is an essential component of the vampire diet. Without it, they are unable to sustain their enhanced nervous systems. Since blood isn't a viable food source for an ordinary human, vampires undergo severe and drastic changes to both the form and function of their digestive systems. For one, the entire system is reduced in vampires. The stomach atrophies and large portions of the intestines are shortened. For the alteration of the microbiome of the gut; over a period of years, the gut become host to an array of immune supporting bacteria, and kind of symbiosis that is faciliated by changes to the vampire genome resulting from the virus. This, paired with what appears to be an enhanced resistance to pryonic makes the vampires virtually immune to blood borne diseases and bacteria. The vampire digestive system is able to assimilate the high levels of iron found in blood, and is able to process its high levels of nitrogen waste. Because of the excess nitrogen, feeding causes vampires to excessively urinate, and the urine gives off an ammonia based odor.   Vampires have elevated levels of a peptide partially responsible for inducing hibernation in animals, so vampires are able to enter a kind of suspended animation for extended periods of time. Vampires are able to ward off the DNA damage that occurs during cell division in normal humans. In humans, the protective caps on the end of chromosomes known as telomeres become chewed up over time, but not in vampires. This is due to the increased production of telomerase, an enzyme that adds DNA sequence repeats. In addition, it appears that higher levels of the anti-oxidant enzyme catalase protect the cells from free-radicals and ambient radiation, preventing ocidative and ionization damage to the DNA. This basically means that vampire physiology is immune to the damaging affects that lead to aging.   Vampires have a severe form of Solar Urticaria, of Polymorphous Light Eruption, that causes itchy rashes on skin exposed to direct sunlight, which in vampires can cause direct sunlight to burn their skin or cause very severe rashes if exposed for too long. Vampires cannot die from sunlight, but due to their extreme reaction to it, can cause them to become weakened in sunlight.

Once one has contracted Febris Dextra, the only way to become "cured" is to take a specialzied potion, but if one has already become a vampire from the disease, the potion will ultimately end up killing them as their body would not be able to handle the changes that has happened, and they would not be able to function as a human again without intensive medical assistance, and even that is not gaurenteed.

When one contracts the disease, they are guarenteed to go into a "vampiric coma" within 24 hours of infection, and not everyone survives. If one survives the coma, they awake as a vampire.

The disease is only able to be spread through humans, so those of a different species are not able to be infected.

Vampires carry the disease and are able to spread it to humans.

There are no known preventions to the disease. However, some people are able to develop natural antibodies right at infection that are able to fight off the disease before it develops symptoms. Trying to inject replicated antibodies into others have not prevented the disease.

After the disappearance of the gods, there was an outbreak of the virus that spread through humans. Those that turned into vampires were immediately outcasted by society, and without a blood source, many of the original vampires died out. The disease only continued through the perserverance of the remaining vampires who feasted on humans, and ended up turning them as well.

In the beginning of the disease, those infected were immediately ostracized from society, and seen as monsters, as vampires would feast on humans, and often end up turning them into vampires as well. As blood donations became more popular and scientists were able to inject the needed protein into artifical blood, vampires slowly rejoined society as they were able to feed without feeding on humans, and were no longer seen as a threat.