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Questions about Transmitability of Hoffan Plague

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    Questions about Transmitability of Hoffan Plague

    In The Kindred, Part 1, Jennifer says about the Hoffan plague, "It's possible it was administered through their food and water supply."

    If this protein can so easily be spread outside of the human body and through liquids, would kissing a person with the Hoffan plague be deadly to those whose bodies can't tolerate the protein?

    What about the biological waste of infected individuals? Would burying Hoffan-infected individuals contaminate the soil and, if so, for how long? Would soil bacteria eventually break this protein down?

    Could a mother conceive a child whose body can't tolerate the plague and could the baby's life be jeopardized during birth? Does the protein pass on to the children?

    What if a Wraith drank wine poisoned with the Hoffan plague, being that their digestive systems are not active? Does the protein only work if it gets into their feeding hand or can it be absorbed anyhow?

    I've seen some fans theorize the protein has to keep being administered, because it was called a drug, but always thought of it as permanent because of refugees such as the Balarians retaining it in their bodies for a long time and relocating and the Wraith not waiting for the protein to dissipate. Is this a drug or a permanent alteration?

    Thoughts?

    PS - Please keep comments respectful to all the Stargate races. This thread is about the Hoffan plague. Thank you.
    Last edited by WraithTech; 17 July 2018, 07:53 AM.

    #2
    I'm no biologist so you can take this with a grain of salt.

    I would think that dosage would be a big thing. I mean, if you drank something with it, got sick, then kissed someone, the person you kissed would get a very diluted version of it. So it would depend on potency. So I don't think a kiss could deliver a potent dose of the drug. Bacteria I would say would be a different thing since a little bacteria, given enough time, can become a lot.

    The affect of biological waste highly depends on the nature of the protein itself. If I recall, the drug works by inhibiting the chemicals the wraith use to feed. The question about contamination is how the drug would react to everything else. I would actually say that it might not have much of a reaction. Whatever comes out via bio waste would be diluted. If human waste with the drug could negatively impact the environment, then poisoning the water should have an even larger affect. The only exception to this I can think of is if the drug reacted with stuff in the human body in a way that would create a new thing that could negatively impact the environment. If it's not negative impact but just general results, then this could be a different thing. For example, if an infected human corpse decomposes and the plants feed off the rot, would the plants become poison sources that would infect humans who ate it? I don't know. It would depend on the drug itself. It may be since 'administered through food' could mean 'I snuck into your shed and infected your storage' or 'I snuck into your farm and infected your cows'. (and apparently gateworld's spellcheck does not recognize the word snuck)

    I would assume the baby would be affected and may even die. Fluids are exchanged while in the womb. The dosage would be a lot more concentrated than compared to the kiss and the baby's immune system wouldn't be as strong.

    I don't think the wraith would be killed if they ingested the poison but there's not enough info. Wraith die from the Hoffan drug since when they feed, they first inject chemicals, then begin to suck. But the drug inhibits and reacts with the chemicals, producing a new bad thing that gets sucked instead. Without knowing how the drug kills the humans that take it, it is difficult to say. Even if their digestive system doesn't extract what is necessary to live from food, it's still taken in, processed, then expelled (what do wraith bathrooms look like?). So it is possible the drug will affect them. But we need to know how the drug kills. It might just cause total organ failure and kill the wraith. Or it might damage the organs or something and the wraith will just regenerate and get nothing but cramps.


    Just my two cents but my field in't bio related so I may be off the mark.

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    Stargate spin off series: Stargate Millennium
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      #3
      Great points about dosage and interaction with the Wraith enzyme. Dosage seemed important in "The Last Man," even in increments. ("Complications due to repeated exposure to the Hoffan drug.")

      Also, yikes, maybe this stuff survives high temperatures in cooking as well?! I had not thought about that and assumed it was added to raw stuff, such as berries. If so, that is even more frightening.
      Last edited by WraithTech; 06 July 2018, 05:51 PM.

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        #4
        "The Last Man" poses more concerns. Keller got it from repeated exposure. Repeated exposure to what? Water droplets from infected people breathing (as it can be spread through water)? Or, infected blood from dying people coughing it up? Maybe only dying people are contagious, if their bodies become overloaded with the plague? Else, every time survivors get the flu or allergies and are coughing, they would be spreading low doses of plague to others just by breathing which could build up over time and spread more plague.

        It's also notable that "Michael returned to the human populations he'd infected with the Hoffan drug. He selected the strongest and the healthiest of the survivors and converted them to hybrids." So, Hoffan survivors can be hybridized, suggesting the plague might interact with Wraith feeding systems and chemicals and not their inactive* digestive systems.
        *(I use the word inactive, because Keller said in "Infection" her treatment "eliminated their feeding hands, activated their digestive systems." Fan theories on what inactive means range from adult Wraith bodies rejecting the solid food and throwing it up to the more common theory that the food just passes through their bodies, not in any way implying that the food stays there forever, just that it doesn't sustain them, but that is a whole different topic.)
        Last edited by WraithTech; 29 January 2019, 10:34 AM. Reason: *adding asterisk to clarify

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