Diseases have become arbitrary colony killers?

[ThiIsMe007]

asinine

Way to blow things out of proportion.

Who here said that diseases are caused by cold ?

I said, that to the extent of the scientific knowledge at hand, cold favors diseases, like flu.

Do you contest it ? If not, how does that render invalid the suggestion that :

-if your pawn stays too long in cold temperatures they could get a flu.

[kasnavada]

asinine

Way to blow things out of proportion.

Who here said that diseases are caused by cold ?

I said, that to the extent of the scientific knowledge at hand, cold favors diseases, like flu.

Do you contest it ? If not, how does that render invalid the suggestion that :

-if your pawn stays too long in cold temperatures they could get a flu.

Actually, it does not.

Cold weather => people stay grouped in small areas with low air renewal.
People group in small areas with low air renewal=> Diseases.

Key points being "group" and "low air renewal".
Therefore the wrong assumption that cold = disease.

[Solanus]

Cold weather => people stay grouped in small areas with low air renewal.
People group in small areas with low air renewal=> Diseases.

Key points being "group" and "low air renewal".
Therefore the wrong assumption that cold = disease.

"How long influenza survives in airborne droplets seems to be influenced by the levels of humidity and UV radiation, with low humidity and a lack of sunlight in winter aiding its survival." - Journal of Infection
"Avian influenza viruses can survive indefinitely when frozen." - Center for Food Safety and Public Health, Iowa State University

There are a lot of factors that contribute to the delivery and propagation of infectious diseases, and cold/winter is one of those that has a significant impact on influenza.  Cold/winter is by no means the reason why someone comes down with the flu - that would be the virus - but it creates a lot of the conditions that lead to its spread, including confinement to closed quarters with other people.

I would be more interested in seeing some realistic means of introducing the strain of influenza to the colony (e.g., NPCs) and then simulating the spread of the disease within the shelter.  It would make more sense for 1-2 pawns to get sick and then need to make sure that they get bed rest, separated from the rest of the group, to ensure that those infected get better and don't get anyone else sick in the mean time.  If the player forces them to interact with the rest of the group (e.g., combat, work, getting their own food), then there should be greater risk of additional infections.

[MikeLemmer]

As entertaining as this argument is, we've gotten off-track from the OP's question.

Yeah these guys died in 24 hours. Wasn't time for significant medical treatment. The plague has pretty obviously been changed.

It wasn't doing it in 13 in 24 hours even if you didn't give any medical assistance.

It still took like 2-3 days for them to die if memory serves.

There was a drop pod came down and I thought it would save me, but she was so bad at convincing the prisoner to join, she escaped and knocked my colonist out, stole her gun and walked off.

Judging by the minimap in the upper-right corner, it looks like you're running mods. Between that and the recent hotfix that tweaked the storytellers, I'd blame it on some weird interaction between your mods and the hotfix rather than some change in the core game.

If you can replicate it in a new, unmodded colony, though, then we have something to go off of.

[MikeLemmer]

I would be more interested in seeing some realistic means of introducing the strain of influenza to the colony (e.g., NPCs) and then simulating the spread of the disease within the shelter.  It would make more sense for 1-2 pawns to get sick and then need to make sure that they get bed rest, separated from the rest of the group, to ensure that those infected get better and don't get anyone else sick in the mean time.  If the player forces them to interact with the rest of the group (e.g., combat, work, getting their own food), then there should be greater risk of additional infections.

Personally, I wouldn't want it that realistic in the game, simply because the current mechanics encourage very small populations & discourage spreading people out. Very few colonists can cook their own meals, the expense & power consumption of stoves and freezers encourages having them all in one location instead of outfitting each house with one, and the tiny confined populations pretty much guarantees everyone would catch it.

[Shurp]

Well, pirate raiders are a pretty obvious source of introducing infectious material...

...but it is worth noting that nasty diseases are primarily an urban problem.  Ebola is a perfect example.  Sure, every now and then a village in Africa would get wiped out by it.  But that was it -- because of poor infrastructure and lack of transport between villages, the disease wouldn't spread to the next village.  Very lethal diseases tend to wipe themselves out too quickly in rural environments.

But if one of those infected villagers makes it to a city... ho boy!  Then the epidemic begins.

[ThiIsMe007]

Actually, it does not.

Cold weather => people stay grouped in small areas with low air renewal.
People group in small areas with low air renewal=> Diseases.

Key points being "group" and "low air renewal".
Therefore the wrong assumption that cold = disease.

So if you stay in your basement, in the cold but alone, you'll never catch flu, right ?

Anyway, it's not my fault if you're in denial. I'm not going to waste my time trying to convince you, and discuss semantics for the sake of it.

If you're one of those happy few that can keep denying climate change, efficiency of vaccines or whatever else modern science can teach us, because of what generations of humans have experienced in the past, like flu hitting with higher frequency and increased lethality during colder seasons (because our immune system is generally weaker during those times), enjoy your minute of attention on some Internet forum.

Well, pirate raiders are a pretty obvious source of introducing infectious material...

That could be another nice suggestion to add to the list (for siege raiders).

It's not like humans have dabbled into biological warfare since at least medieval times.

That could be more interesting and challenging to defend against (need to burn diseased carrion, need to disinfect areas, need to throw away contaminated food or crops, etc.) than the harmless fire-crackers raiders keep trying (because well, mortars...) to lob over the walls of our colonies.