'Cloverdale' (205) General Discussion

[carmencatalina]

There is a difference between a blood-born pathogen and an STD. Some blood-born pathogens are STDS (HIV is an example), some are not. Malaria, for example, is caused by parasites in your blood. You can't pass malaria on to someone by having sex with them.

Here endeth the biology lesson.

[carmencatalina]

And anything that is affecting Chloe on the genetic level, will be present in all her fluids.

No, actually, that's not true. What is secreted in various bodily fluids varies. The chemistry of breast milk, tears, semen, blood, vaginal secretions, etc. all varies.

[Skiznot]

In a sentence, this is not the type of episode I watch SGU for. I like SGU because it breaks these formulas. But if every season has to have it's "pain" episode at least it gets out of the way.

Some quibbles in the non-hallucination parts. Dr. Park always seemed to be a planetary scientist and now she's all biology expert. Might be nice to nail down some of the scientists specialties. Rush seems to be about codes and math and he's playing doctor also.

Chloe was good in this ep and there was good acting and cool alien life, other than that I'll just wait for next epp.

[Blackhole]

Just because "fluids have been exchanged" doesn't mean anything was passed on. You could have unprotected sex with someone HIV positive a million times and there is no guarantee you'd ever contract the virus. It's all a roll of the dice and clearly, her "Space STD" wasn't passed on. It's also possibly becasue (1) it's not an STD of any sort and it's ridiculous to refer to it as such and (2) we don't know if it's a virus or infection or a disease that is only transeferable through blood transfusion/organ transplant or any other host of options. But we do know what it's not, and it's not a sexually transmitted disease, so why don't we quit using that fun little moniker.

That is only because HIV exchange requires a break in the skin and women are far more likely to get HIV because whoever is on the receiving end of the semen is much more at risk.

We don't know if it is a virus that is causing the changes in Chloe. It is possible that she was altered on a genetic level and the change is not communicable; it may not be intentional on their part, possibly an unexpected side effect. I do agree that since Scott has shown no signs of anything it would tend to suggest that what was done to her isn't communicable. Besides, if the aliens intended that she pass on what is happening to her they would have engineered a highly contagious virus and everyone on Destiny would already have it.

[Kaiphantom]

No, actually, that's not true. What is secreted in various bodily fluids varies. The chemistry of breast milk, tears, semen, blood, vaginal secretions, etc. all varies.

Not entirely true. All of your fluids have your DNA in them. That's why we can take fluids and do DNA matches to see if you left pieces of yourself at a crime scene (although there are varying levels of exactness and detail to which you can scan). If Chloe is being affected on the genetic level, that means her DNA is being altered, which WILL show up when testing any of her fluids, because they all contain her DNA.

I do agree that since Scott has shown no signs of anything it would tend to suggest that what was done to her isn't communicable. Besides, if the aliens intended that she pass on what is happening to her they would have engineered a highly contagious virus and everyone on Destiny would already have it.

Scott getting cured is a very strong sign that what happened is communicable. And unless what Chloe has is communicable by air (and signs point to no), then it's actually fairly hard to catch something from someone. They'd have to get her fluids in them, which is harder than you might think.

[Blackhole]

Except, as this little blood transfusion shows, it *is* possible for whatever Chloe has to be transferred. I agree with the others; Scott should have had space STD's long before this. In fact, as soon as they learned what Chloe had, Scott should have been put on a No-Nookie diet to prevent what Chloe has from spreading. So it's kind of a plot hole, because tiny bits of blood *can* be exchanged during sex, as part of the fluids. And anything that is affecting Chloe on the genetic level, will be present in all her fluids.

You can't assume automatically that what she has is communicable. It is possible what conferred immunity were antibody like cells that once present in Scott's blood conferred temporary immunity. Once these cells die Scott would loose his immunity. If the changes to Chloe are on a genetic level and not caused by a still present virus then it may not be transferable. The fact that Chloe and Scott have been exchanging bodily fluids for some time tend to suggest that the cause of her changes is not communicable.

Besides, if the aliens had intended that she pass on what is happening to her they would have engineered a highly contagious virus and everyone on Destiny would already have it. It is possible that she was altered on a genetic level and the change is not communicable; it may not be intentional on their part; possibly an unexpected side effect.

I would think Destiny would have microscope like equipment present somewhere on the ship. The scientists need to find them. Remember the ship was designed for colonists this type of equipment would be essential to have on board.

[Blackhole]

There is a difference between a blood-born pathogen and an STD. Some blood-born pathogens are STDS (HIV is an example), some are not. Malaria, for example, is caused by parasites in your blood. You can't pass malaria on to someone by having sex with them.

Here endeth the biology lesson.

True, malaria is caused by a vector, a mosquito that passes on the parasites when it bites you.

[Blackhole]

No, actually, that's not true. What is secreted in various bodily fluids varies. The chemistry of breast milk, tears, semen, blood, vaginal secretions, etc. all varies.

You are right.

[Ssuper Kyle]

Why were they on the planet to begin with? Destiny wouldn't have stopped there. Did rush stop the ship there too?

[lommit]

must say this is one of my favs of seson 2. it had some thing that need to be explained but still a great episode.

[kirmit]

The real world situation on the planet was brilliant. Scott's fantasy world was very boring, for me atleast.

[Kaiphantom]

You can't assume automatically that what she has is communicable. It is possible what conferred immunity were antibody like cells that once present in Scott's blood conferred temporary immunity. Once these cells die Scott would loose his immunity. If the changes to Chloe are on a genetic level and not caused by a still present virus then it may not be transferable. The fact that Chloe and Scott have been exchanging bodily fluids for some time tend to suggest that the cause of her changes is not communicable.

Besides, if the aliens had intended that she pass on what is happening to her they would have engineered a highly contagious virus and everyone on Destiny would already have it. It is possible that she was altered on a genetic level and the change is not communicable; it may not be intentional on their part; possibly an unexpected side effect.

I would think Destiny would have microscope like equipment present somewhere on the ship. The scientists need to find them. Remember the ship was designed for colonists this type of equipment would be essential to have on board.

What you say has some merit, but you're not listening to the actual point being made. The truth is, we don't know what the aliens did to Chloe, and the only hint is that Rush said something may be happening to her on a genetic level. So what we're discussing here are possibilities, not absolute truth.

If what is happening to Chloe is affecting her genes, which seems likely, then those genes are present in all her bodily fluids. Scott would thus have been exposed to them repeatedly for almost a year.

It'll be interesting to see exactly how Scott is affect and for how long; if he seems to return to normal, then it is likely whatever the aliens did was tailored to Chloe. But that turns Chloe into a super-doctor, able to cure most anything with a blood transfusion with no last repercussions. If it stays, then we have two super people, and that's one too many; something has to happen to one of them.

To repeat: If it's genetic, then Scott has already been exposed, especially if that has entailed oral sex. That is what can make it a bit of a plot hole. I trust I don't have to go into exactly how a man is vulnerable to STD's and how they can take in bodily fluids.

[Daniela]

You knew what I meant!

[derrickh]

It sounds like some people are trying to have it both ways in terms of Chloe's infection. Either it IS communicable via fluids, or its not. SG-U seems to say it -is- because a blood transfusion transferred it to Scott. And if its communicable via fluids, then Scott has been infected for a while since he's be having unprotected sex with Patient Zero. (Unless a case of condoms was included in the essential items they brought onto Destiny...along with flamethrowers). Also, since she was bleeding all over Eli when he carried her around the ship during the takeover, he may wanna get checked.

Its doubtful that the aliens planned on infected Chloe with the virus, because like it's been said, its a fairly bad way to get control of the ship. More than likely, it was an accidental side effect because Rush doesnt have the same infection (remember, he was stabbed and didnt go all Wolverine and heal himself like Chloe does).

D

[Ashizuri]

It sounds like some people are trying to have it both ways in terms of Chloe's infection. Either it IS communicable via fluids, or its not. SG-U seems to say it -is- because a blood transfusion transferred it to Scott. And if its communicable via fluids, then Scott has been infected for a while since he's be having unprotected sex with Patient Zero. (Unless a case of condoms was included in the essential items they brought onto Destiny...along with flamethrowers). Also, since she was bleeding all over Eli when he carried her around the ship during the takeover, he may wanna get checked.

Something that is communicable by blood transfusion is not always transferable by all bodily fluids. As someone else pointed out, you can get Malaria by coming in to contact with contaminated blood but you can not get it through sexual intercouse. Many diseases that are aqcuired from a parasite/bug bite (or super advanced alien races, maybe) are not sexually transferable, so the idea that Scott should already have been infected is faulty. Eli, however, you're right about and he should get checked now that they know her blood can infect others.