[h=2]I thought it was Tuberculosis, the way they are coughing up blood. I believe some strains can be spread rapidly. So much for my medical diagnosis.[/h]

 

Spanish flu can lead to coughing up blood too. TB wasn't a bad thought, but it wouldn't show up in everyone that fast. But this is TV, so the medical rules don't really apply.

 

I rewound the show before I went to bed last night because someone told me they mentioned the name of one of the 'antibiotics', but somehow I missed it the first time. At the top of the list that Daryl had in his hand was Zanamivir. Zanamivir is an antiviral, used for common Influenza strains. Anytime a drug ends in 'vir' its almost always an antiviral. They were calling it an 'antibiotic' for the show.

 

I'm surprised no one has brought up that some antibiotics (not all) can become quite toxic after an expiration date.

 

Well, yes and no. We actually don't know this to be true for most drugs because it hasn't been studied. Several years ago, the military did a study on the effectiveness of drugs after the expiration date, because they got sick of throwing out medications every couple of years, and they found that many drugs were effective for years after the expiration date [up to something like 15 or 20 years after for some]. Renal problems have been found rarely due to taking expired medicine, but those meds are no longer on the market. While its possible that some drugs could become toxic after some time, we really don't have that evidence yet for the majority of drugs. Especially so soon after the apocalypse [less than 18 months out], many drugs would either have yet to pass the date, or be only recently expired, and it wouldn't be a huge concern at this point. The bigger concern would be whether the drugs were as effective after the date.

 

Good catch. 2-5 appear to be mycins or cillins though which are antibiotics. I guess they're just trying to stock up on drugs in case they need it for future use or are covering all their bases. If it was bacterial though it would have spread through the water most likely, either the drinking or shower water. The rate of symptom progression is very rapid like with bacterial infection but it does seem like an airborne viral infection based on how fast it has spread. Also whatever causes the zombification is also probably compounding the disease.

 

well, if you had that illness after seeing people die within 24 hours of getting symptoms, you'd probably take your chances with the expired medicine. I know I would.

 

Any meds are surely going to be better than nothing. No meds=certain death. Meds=chance you might not die.

 

It seems unlikely to me this Vet clinic would not have been broken into already, anyway, especially after two years.

 

It might have been already, but antivirals might not have been high on the list of early looters. And remember, only about 1 out of 5000 people are alive. Very few people left to loot. And personally, I'd raid 10 Diary Queens and a Victoria's Secret before I got around to any Veterinary Colleges...

 

Wheres the 1 in 5000 figure from? Is it canon? It sounds about right, just wondering if we've had it confirmed. I totally agree with you, most people would have been preoccupied with staying uneaten, food and then medicine would be the last thing they'd do. Even then they'd only do it if they were well enough and it was worth the risk.

And I'd loot anywhere that sells chocolate. Then I'd bother with silly things like life saving medicine.

 

I would just loot those little solar powered plastic flowers that wiggle in the sun! My ZA hideout would be covered in them!! And the 1 in 5000 figure comes from Kirkman. He has said once or twice in interviews that he penned the comics in a world consistent with only about 1 in 5000 people being still alive, and that the show is similar. Its also listed on walkingdead.wiki as being the number.

 

We'll eventually all the medicine is going to run out. I wonder what's going to happen to the future generations (if there is any) in terms of getting other deadly diseases that we would normally get vaccinated for like.

 

Eventually everything will go back to the way it was before the medicines were available. Death rates will increase for illnesses that are survivable now. But people with skills in herbal medicines (like Hershel) will be very valuable people to have around.