![]() According to the CDC, Mycobacterium leprae is a slow-growing bacterium that can take up to 20 years before it mounts enough of a force to cause symptoms. That’s partly because there is a lot of lead time before the disease starts causing problems. ![]() Your immune system would fight it off before it ever had a chance to take hold. Even if you were to be infected, you’d probably never know it. Roughly 95 percent of the population has a natural immunity. Leprosy is caused by the bacteria Mycobacterium leprae which, in actuality, isn’t all that threatening. We may not know for certain how the pathogen spreads, but we do know what the pathogen is. Shaking hands and hugging or hanging out in the same space isn’t a risk as long as you’re not coughing all over one another. That’s important because it means you can’t catch it through casual contact. It’s not quite clear precisely how leprosy spreads from person to person but scientists suspect it happens when a contagious person coughs or sneezes, releasing infected droplets into the air. WHERE DOES IT COME FROM AND WHAT DOES IT DO? If caught relatively early, there are no longstanding consequences to infection. Treatment with antibiotics is highly effective and once treatments starts, patients are no longer contagious and can go about their ordinary lives. It turns out leprosy isn’t actually that contagious and is likely transmitted through frequent contact with untreated cases, probably through the release of oral and nasal droplets. Today, however, folks who contract leprosy are likely to suffer more from stigma than the actual disease. (Greyscale, the fictional disease in the series, clearly is inspired by leprosy even if the symptoms are more fantastical.) Such seggregation was the most effective and only real long-term strategy for dealing with the disease until the advent of effective medical treatments. As a result, people who had contracted leprosy were often segregated from the rest of the population in what became known as leper colonies, not unlike the Stone Men in Old Valyria. The disease later traveled across the globe, resulting in 19,000 leprosy hospitals across Europe by the year 1200.įeet showing effects of leprosy Photo: Science & Society Picture Library/SSPL/Getty ImagesĪt the time, and leading up to the 20 th century, leprosy was thought to be a highly contagious and ultimately debilitating disease. There, archaeologists have uncovered an ancient skeleton with erosion patterns similar to those found in modern leprosy patients. Our oldest evidence of the disease hails from 4,000 years ago in India. Martin or an HBO writer’s room, its history would fit nicely in the mythos of Westeros. ![]() While leprosy is a creation of our own world and not a fantasy of George R.R. Viserys has ticked every box on the leprosy checklist and then some. Infection can lead to nerve damage, respiratory problems, and damage to the skin and eyes. What we know about leprosy lines up nicely with the symptoms we see on screen. What it does to you mentally,” Considine said. It becomes a metaphor for being king and the stress and strain it puts on you. He’s still a young man in there, he’s just unfortunately got this thing that’s kind of taken over his body. His body is deteriorating, his bones are deteriorating. “He’s actually suffering from a form of leprosy. In a recent podcast interview with Entertainment Weekly, Paddy Considine - the actor portraying Viserys - revealed that his character has a kind of leprosy. What happened to Viserys, and is such a condition possible in the real world? WHAT DOES VISERYS HAVE? ![]() Sinew and teeth peek out through a rotting hole. At one point, the king removes his golden mask to reveal a face missing the right eye and part of the cheek. The open sores, delirium brought on in part by milk of the poppy, and a horrifying wasting of his face aren't the worst of it. By the eighth episode, “The Lord of Tides,” King Viserys is well into the throes of an unnamed yet familiar disease. What began as open wounds turned into amputations - and worse. Warning: Spoilers ahead for House of the Dragon.įrom the start, King Viserys has been unwell, and he's looked worse and worse with each time jump as his condition progressed. The first spin-off show, the prequel House of the Dragon, has its own disease, and this ailment is a little more realistic but just as fatal. In Game of Thrones, viewers were introduced to a fictional disease called greyscale which caused the skin to harden and calcify. The A Song of Ice and Fire universe is no stranger to death and disease.
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