Kurdov Disease

Kurdov disease was once thought to be transmitted by non-sapient dragons, hence its name in False Dragontongue. Kurdov Disease, historically, was transmitted by Dragon Mites, ticks, or other parasitic species that prey upon dragon blood biting a non-dragonkin creature, and the pest vomiting dragon blood into their new host's bloodstream. Commonly, the parasites that are more likely to vomit blood are also infected with other diseases themselves, which may also post significant risk to patients.   In modern times, transmission is exceedingly rare, and most commonly occurs due to extreme misconduct in blood transfusion processes or during medical experimentation, in which dragon blood is given to a humanoid. It is estimated that there are only >250 cases globally per year, with the majority of such being minor with little to no lasting harm done to the recipient as such experiments are often done under extremely careful and monitored conditions.

The disease's cause was unknown and mysterious for much of its history, and at many points, doubted as even being a disease in the first place. It was only recognized in 16,942 during a medical experiment hypothesizing the extreme immune response of draconic blood cells could be a benefit to humanoids, as dragons' immune systems are extremely hostile to disease, particularly those caused by bacteria. Draconic immunity cells caused an immediate autoimmune response in humanoids as well as the draconic cells themselves reacting to those of the humanoid.

Nausea, decreased appetite, dizziness, fever, and low blood pressure are common symptoms of minor cases, lasting from one to three days. These symptoms are not typically dangerous on their own, oftentimes only becoming a significant issue in those who are already immunocompromised, ill, or otherwise facing medical complications.   Moderate cases can present with high grade fever, extremely low blood pressure, inflammation of the blood vessels, widespread blood clotting, and high autoimmune response. These symptoms are most common with tick, mite, or parasite bites. Stroke as a result of blood clots is a very real risk with the disease, even after the fact. Fevers can become dangerously high depending on the amount of blood transfused and patient's response.   Severe cases of Kurdov disease cause acute hemolytic transfusion reactions, with back pain along the entire spine, anemia, fainting, severe nausea, vomiting, shock, and organ failure particularly in the heart, kidneys, and lungs. Cases which are not immediately deadly in of themselves often become so later on due to complications with their symptoms and a vastly increased risk of severe stroke or heart attack caused by clotting.

Immediate blood transfusion to remove draconic blood and antibodies is required for all moderate to severe cases of Kurdov disease. Even in cases of treatment for the disease, recovery is oftentimes very low due to the severity of symptoms.

Most Kurdov cases only last for a short period of time, between 2-6 days. Most cases see the quickest recoveries with discomfort and fever defining the symptoms, and most often will see few lasting ill effects. The issue with the condition's effects is that there is a very fine line between mild and moderate cases, with the latter almost always causing lasting harm to the body, immune system, and in many cases, becoming fatal over the course of 2-3 days. Severe cases, in which large volumes of blood has been transfused or injected into the patient, can be deadly within as little as 12 hours due to widespread shock.

The disease was almost completely unknown until its discovery in 16,942 and was undescribed by science. Humanoids, especially mortals, who spent significant portions of their time around non-sapient dragons had long been known to face health complications, but the disease itself had not yet been found or its cause known. Many historical records from the human era also described those as held prisoner by sapient dragons as facing severe disease, though primarily it was blamed on unsanitary conditions, malnutrition, and known human or humanoid diseases of the era. It is now more widely thought that such high populations of humanoids in contact with dragons for the first time enmass may have allowed favorable conditions for parasites to cross between the species, and that bites transmitting draconic blood were far more common than they are today.   The discovery of the disease was largely in part due to medical trials to use draconic autoimmunity on humanoids to bolster disease resistance. Small samples of draconic blood, matching blood type, were administered to patients with poor or compromised immune systems and little prognosis for recovery on their own from bacterial or viral infections. Although some immune response was expected, those conducting the trials were not expecting such sharp immune responses from the dragon blood itself, which was described as 'shredding' the blood cells of the patients. The experiment's trials were stopped, and unfortunately resulted in the death of 14 patients.   It was initially thought, on discovery, that Kurdov disease may have been caused by a bacteria, protein, or even a virus unique to draconic blood not found in humanoids to cause the symptoms. This was not disproven until 17,025, following extensive lab testing of different micro-fauna found in draconic bodies in replications of humanoid blood, showing minor to no response to the invading microorganisms when compared to draconic autoimmune cells.   Although not proven, it is thought by many Omnia born in the human era that Kurdov disease may have been the widespread illnesses seen by human captives of dragons, and the ones often experienced by human-born omnia who became omnia later in life. This is unlikely to ever be proven, due to the severe effects of the body's response and high liklihood of complications and death.