Disease

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This article is about treatable illnesses. For physical damage, see Injury. For chronic health conditions, see Ailments.

Colonists sometimes contract diseases. Diseases most often occur through random events that vary by biome and difficulty. Infections have a random chance of developing from an injury regardless of biome.

• Note: Infectious diseases are acquired from the world environment, not other "sick" pawns. In RimWorld, no disease is "contagious"; that is, just because a colonist becomes infected with a disease, they are not "carriers" who may make others sick. There are some diseases that are known to strike groups of colonists at the same time (e.g. gut worms), mimicking an outbreak, but pawns can be safely exposed to another pawn that has flu or plague or any ailment without fear of "catching the disease" from that source.

Effects

Diseases cause infected colonists to suffer symptoms, which can vary from disease to disease. Diseases progress through stages of intensity until either the colonist develops immunity or the disease runs its course, usually leading to death. Diseases progression generally follows a pattern of minor -> major -> extreme. The more severe the disease, the more dramatic the symptoms. Diseases are not contagious and do not spread between pawns.

Treatment

At regular intervals, a resting colonist can be treated by a doctor. This slows the progression of symptoms and for most diseases it is critical to treat the colonist as often as possible. You cannot give a new treatment until 3 hours before the expiry of the previous one, and you can see the remaining time by hovering over the disease in the colonist's Health tab. The treatment interval varies for each disease.

Treatment Quality is determined by a variety of factors, including the doctor's skill and the quality of medicine used. Progression of the disease is slowed depending on how good the treatment was.

Immunity: Colonists will gradually develop immunity to potentially fatal diseases, such as wound infections or plague. When immunity reaches 100%, the symptoms will not immediately disappear, but will instead tick backwards towards zero with the colonist no longer needing any treatment. If the disease symptoms progress past 100% before immunity does, the colonist will die. Immunity Gain Speed is affected by the colonist's food, rest, bed quality, age, and blood filtration.

Blood Filtration is a major factor in getting better from diseases. Poor blood filtration may result in sicknesses developing faster than they would usually. Older colonists are more susceptible to sickness than younger ones. Colonists with only one kidney have their blood filtration reduced by 50%.

Diseases

Most diseases have the following:

• General Symptoms - initial symptoms that develop in the first few days of being sick.
• Advanced Symptoms - symptoms that set in when the disease progresses for any reason (e.g. being untreated or gets worse).
• Treatment - some illnesses are treatable with medicine, but not all diseases are treatable, especially chronic diseases.

Disease	Fatality Potential	Description	Severity	Symptoms	Treatment
Infection		generic infection of individual wounds, fast moving and dangerous, mild symptoms unless extreme	Per Day Tended: -0.53 Per Day Immune: -0.70 Per Day Not Immune: 0.84 Per Day Sick: 0.6441 Per Day Not Sick: -0.40	Severity: <0.33 Pain: +5% Severity: >0.33 Pain: +8% Severity: >0.78 Pain: +12% Consciousness: −5% Severity: >0.87 Pain: +85% Consciousness: Max 10% Breathing: −5%	Bed rest Medicine In extreme cases, amputation of the infected body part
Flu		relatively mild, with vomiting, affects breathing and manipulation	Consciousness: −?% Manipulation: −?% Breathing: −?%	Vomiting: MtB ? Pain: ?%	Medicine
Malaria		painful, attacks blood filtration and consciousness; more common in jungle biomes	Consciousness: −?% Manipulation: −?% Blood Filtration: −?% Vomiting: MtB ?	Consciousness: −?% Pain: ?% Vomiting: MtB ?	Medicine
Plague		fast moving and extremely painful	Pain: ?% Consciousness: −?% Manipulation: −?%	Pain: ?% Consciousness: −?% Breathing: −?%	Medicine
Sleeping sickness		slow-moving infection that mainly affects consciousness; native only to rainforests and swamps	Pain: 2% Consciousness: −2% Manipulation: −2% Vomiting: MtB ?	Consciousness: −?% Vomiting: MtB ? Pain: ?%	Medicine
Blood rot		blood affliction, easily treated but very long lasting without glitterworld medicine	Blood Filtration: −?% Blood Pumping: −?% Vomiting: MtB ?	Blood Filtration: −?% Blood Pumping: −?% Vomiting: MtB ?	Medicine Surgery; 10 glitterworld medicine; Medical Skill 5+
Scaria		only affects animals, drives them to become manhunters, 100% fatal within 5 days if not operated on successfully	Initial: 0.001	Berserk (Humans): MtB 1 Day Manhunting (Other Animals): MtB 1 Day	Surgery 3 medicine Medical Skill 8+
Gut worms		non-fatal but painful ailment which doubles hunger rate	Initial: 0.001	Pain: +20% Vomiting: MtB 1 day Hunger Rate: +100%	Medicine 48hr Tend Cured at 300% Tend Quality. Stomach replacement Bionic stomach Reprocessor stomach Nuclear stomach Sterilizing stomach
Muscle parasites		non-fatal, impaired manipulation and movement speed, significant tiredness	Initial: 0.001	Pain: +20% Manipulation: −30% Moving: −30%	Medicine 48hr Tend Cured at 300% Tend Quality.
Fibrous mechanites		non-fatal, very long-lasting, potentially very painful, significant Tiredness but improves manipulation, moving and blood pumping	Initial: 0.001 Per Day Tended: -1.0 Per Day Not Immune: +0.25	Pain: +20% Rest Fall Factor: +70% Manipulation: +50% Moving: +50% Blood Pumping: +50% Severity: >=0.5 Pain: +60% Rest Fall Factor: +100% Manipulation: +50% Moving: +50% Blood Pumping: +50%	Medicine 48hr Tend Prevents severity increase only Disappears after 900,000 ticks (250 mins) and 1,800,000 ticks (500 mins)
Sensory mechanites		non-fatal, very long-lasting, potentially very painful, significant Tiredness but improves sight, hearing, and talking, with some improved manipulation	Initial: 0.001 Per Day Tended: -1.0 Per Day Not Immune: +0.25	Pain: +20% Rest Fall Factor: +70% Manipulation: +30% Sight: +50% Hearing: +50% Talking: +50% Severity: >=0.5 Pain: +60% Rest Fall Factor: +100% Manipulation: +30% Sight: +50% Hearing: +50% Talking: +50%	Medicine 48hr Tend Prevents severity increase only Disappears after 900,000 ticks (250 mins) and 1,800,000 ticks (500 mins)

Fatal diseases

Though not all are technically "diseases", the ailments below all have the potential to kill if not treated adequately.

Infection

Main article: Infection

Not to be confused with "infectious diseases", in RimWorld an "infection" is a specific ailment which can occur in open wounds, frostbite, and burns which have either been left untreated or were treated in unsanitary environments. Progresses and kills rapidly if poorly treated.

General Symptoms:

• Mild pain
• Reduced Consciousness

Advanced Symptoms:

• Loss of Consciousness
• Excruciating Pain
• Breathing difficulties

Treatment:

• Medicine
• Amputating the affected part

Blood rot

Main article: Blood rot

A bacterial disease that has little effect on host at first, but kills quickly if left untreated. Reduces blood filtration.

General Symptoms:

• Reduced Blood Filtration
• Reduced Blood Pumping
• Occasional Vomiting

Advanced Symptoms:

• Greatly Reduced Blood Filtration
• Greatly Reduced Blood Pumping
• Frequent Vomiting

Treatment:

• Medicine
• Surgery; requiring 10 glitterworld medicine and a doctor of medical skill 5 or above

Flu

Main article: Flu

Trivial disease that can be caught anywhere. Generally not fatal to healthy colonists.

General Symptoms:

• Reduced Consciousness
• Impaired Manipulation
• Hindered Breathing

Advanced Symptoms:

• Vomiting
• Mild Pain

Treatment:

• Medicine

Lung rot

Main article: Lung rot

Disease that can be caught after prolonged exposure of [rot stink]. Usually caught in both lungs.

General symptoms:

• Moderate pain
• Reduced breathing

Advanced symptoms:

• Loss of consciousness

Treatment:

• Medicine

Malaria

Main article: Malaria

Disease that can be especially caught in jungles. Reduces blood filtration.

General Symptoms:

• Reduced Blood Filtration
• Slightly reduced Consciousness
• Slightly hindered Manipulation
• Vomiting

Advanced Symptoms:

• Loss of Consciousness
• Moderate Pain
• Frequent Vomiting

Treatment:

• Medicine

Plague

Main article: Plague

Somewhat deadly disease that can be caught anywhere.

General Symptoms:

• Moderate Pain
• Somewhat Reduced Consciousness
• Somewhat Reduced Manipulation

Advanced Symptoms:

• Excruciating Pain
• Loss of Consciousness
• Difficulty in Breathing

Treatment:

• Medicine

Sleeping sickness

Main article: Sleeping sickness

Slow-progressing disease exclusive to the jungles of the RimWorlds.

General Symptoms:

• Trivial Pain
• Moderately reduced Consciousness
• Slightly reduced Manipulation
• Occasional Vomiting

Advanced Symptoms:

• Loss of Consciousness
• Frequent Vomiting
• Moderate Pain

Treatment:

• Medicine

Scaria

Main article: Scaria

Found in animals only, this disease presents with similar symptoms to luciferium withdrawal, driving the victim mad, and lethal in 5 days from contraction.

If a creature expires from this disease, their corpse has a high chance to be rotten and not able to be butchered.

General Symptoms:

• Manhunting in animals (mtB 1 day)
• Berserk in humanoids (mtB 1 day)

Treatment:

• Surgery; requiring 3 medicine and a doctor of medical skill 8 or above

Non-fatal

These diseases cannot kill the colonist but can hamper effectiveness.

Gut worms

Main article: Gut worms

Parasitic worms in the gut. They cause vomiting. They also consume the victim's food, which increases hunger.

— Description

Gut worms are a parasitic disease that infects the stomach, causing pain and nausea and doubling the host's hunger rate.

Stages

General

• Hunger Rate Factor: +100%
• Pain: +20%
• Vomiting (MTB of 1 day)
• −5 Sick mood, stacking with any mood effect from the pain.

Progression

Gut Worms do not increase in severity over time, nor are they cured over time. Direct treatment is the primary way to cure it.

Treatment

Gut Worms will be cured when the treatments performed on it reach a cumulative tend quality of 300%, thus it is important to maximize the Medical Tend Quality of the Doctor performing the tending and the quality of the medicine used. It takes 48 ingame hours (2 days, or 120,000 ticks (33.33 mins)) between each treatment. For example, the disease can be treated with 3 treatments at 100% quality, or 5 at 60%, or 1 at 130% plus 2 at 85%.

Other treatments

• Administer healer mech serum - instantly treats the disease
• Install a bionic stomach (or other stomach replacements)
• Use the medic cycle of the Biosculpter pod

Muscle parasites

Muscle parasites are a parasitic disease hampering the muscles, decreasing their effectiveness. The disease does not kill the patient.

Effects

• Pain: +20%
• Sleep Fall Rate: +100%
• Manipulation: −30%
• Moving: −30%

Progression

Muscle parasites do not increase in severity over time, nor are they cured over time. Direct treatment is the primary way to cure it.

Treatment

Muscle parasites will be cured when the treatments performed on it reach a cumulative quality of 300%, thus it is important to maximize the Medical Tend Quality of the Doctor performing the tending and the quality of the medicine used. It takes 48 ingame hours (2 days, 120,000 ticks (33.33 mins)) between each treatment. For example, the disease can be treated with 3 treatments at 100% quality, or 5 at 60%, or 1 at 130% plus 2 at 85%.

Other Treatments

• Administer healer mech serum- instantly treats the disease
• Use the medic cycle of the Biosculpter pod

Trivia

In real life, humans can become infected by eating infected pork, or wild carnivores such as fox, cat, or bear.

Unlike in-game, muscle parasites can kill in real life.

Version history

Prior to Beta 19, muscle parasites always required 5 treatments regardless of quality.

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Disease

Deadly diseases

Flu • Infection • Lung rot • Malaria • Plague • Sleeping sickness • Organ decay • Blood rot • Infant illness

Non-fatal diseases

Fibrous mechanites • Gut worms • Muscle parasites • Sensory mechanites • Paralytic abasia

Animal diseases

Scaria

Fibrous mechanites

Fibrous Mechanites is a mechanite disease that dramatically boosts a pawn's efficiency, but brings pain and tiredness. This disease does not kill the patient.

Overview

Fibrous Mechanites give massive boosts to various stats, but also give a large modifier to Sleep Fall Rate. The pain's Consciousness reduction will slightly reduce a pawn's actual effectiveness, and gives negative moodlets to most colonists. However, this "disease" remains a net positive, if you can handle the sleep.

Treatment does not cure the disease, it only prevents the pain from worsening. The mechanites will only be cured with time, and will remain for the same length regardless of what you do.

Note that the pain will incapacitate pawns with the Wimp trait. You can install the painstopper implant, inject them with Go-juice, or use the Painblock psycast to negate the pain, making them mobile.

Symptoms

Stage	Severity	Symptoms
Mild	0 - 0.49	Sleep Fall Rate: +70% Mild pain: +20% Manipulation +50% Moving: +50% Blood pumping: +50%
Intense	0.5 - 1	Sleep Fall Rate: +100% Intense pain +60% Manipulation +50% Moving +50% Blood pumping +50%

Note: The second stage is only an increase in pain and sleep fall rate, there are no additional stat boosts over early stages

Progression

Severity increases when left untended, and slows or regresses once tended.

• Minor - Severity: 0 - 0.49
• Major - Severity: 0.5 - 1

Humans

• Severity increases by 0.25 per day when not tended
• Severity decreases by up to 100% per day when tended; actual rate depends on treatment quality

Treatment

The only cure for this disease is time; it will fade in 1-2 quadrums.

Treatment can be applied every 48 ingame hours (2 days, or 120,000 ticks (33.33 mins)). Treatment will slow progression or prevent pain from increasing, but will not reduce the duration or positive boosts.

Because of the long duration of this disease and the need for frequent treatment, this can place a long-term strain on medical supplies. Planting healroot or making other long term plans might be wise at the first sign of this disease.

Version history

• 0.13.1135 - Added.

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Disease

Deadly diseases

Flu • Infection • Lung rot • Malaria • Plague • Sleeping sickness • Organ decay • Blood rot • Infant illness

Non-fatal diseases

Fibrous mechanites • Gut worms • Muscle parasites • Sensory mechanites • Paralytic abasia

Animal diseases

Scaria

Sensory mechanites

Sensory mechanites is a mechanite disease that boosts a pawn's efficiency, but brings pain and tiredness. This disease does not kill the patient.

Overview

Sensory Mechanites give massive boosts to certain stats, but also give a large increase to Sleep Fall Rate. The pain's Consciousness reduction will slightly reduce a pawn's actual effectiveness, and gives negative moodlets to most colonists. However, this "disease" is useful if these stats are important, like a Social pawn.

Treatment does not cure the disease, it only prevents the pain from worsening. The mechanites will only be cured with time, and will remain for the same length regardless of what you do.

Note that the pain will incapacitate pawns with the Wimp trait. You can install the painstopper implant, inject them with Go-juice, or use the Painblock psycast to negate the pain, making them mobile.

Stages

Mild pain (0 - 0.49 severity)

• Pain: +20%
• Sleep Fall Rate: +70%
• Sight: +50%
• Hearing: +50%
• Talking: +50%
• Manipulation: +30%

Serious pain (0.5 - 1 severity)

• Pain: +60%
• Sleep Fall Rate: +100%
• Sight: +50%
• Hearing: +50%
• Talking: +50%
• Manipulation: +30%

Note

The early symptom of "Serious" pain is a bit confusing. In the health tab, the pain is described as "Mild Pain" but shows -4% consciousness. While in the needs tab, the pain is described as "Serious," and has a mood debuff of -10. Pain is typically described as Minor, Serious, Intense, or Mind-shattering. Sensory mechanites cause a minimum of Serious pain, despite the innocent sounding label of "mild" in the health tab.

Progression

Severity increases when left untended, and slows or regresses once tended.

• Minor - Severity: 0 - 0.49
• Major - Severity: 0.5 - 1

Humans

• Severity increases by 0.25 per day when not tended
• Severity decreases by up to 100% per day when tended; actual rate depends on treatment quality

Treatment

The only cure for this disease is time; it will fade in 1-2 quadrums.

Treatment can be applied every 48 ingame hours (2 days, or 120,000 ticks (33.33 mins)). Treatment will slow progression or prevent pain from increasing, but will not reduce the duration or positive boosts.

Because of the long duration of this disease and the need for frequent treatment, this can place a long-term strain on medical supplies. Planting healroot or making other long term plans might be wise at the first sign of this disease.

Version history

• 0.13.1135 - Added.

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Disease

Deadly diseases

Flu • Infection • Lung rot • Malaria • Plague • Sleeping sickness • Organ decay • Blood rot • Infant illness

Non-fatal diseases

Fibrous mechanites • Gut worms • Muscle parasites • Sensory mechanites • Paralytic abasia

Animal diseases

Scaria

Paralytic abasia

Main article: Paralytic abasia

Disease frequency

Disease frequency by difficulty

Difficulty	Disease interval multiplier
Peaceful	3
Community builder	2.5
Adventure story	1.3
Strive to survive	1.0
Blood and dust	0.95
Losing is fun	0.9

Disease frequency by biomes

Version history

• 0.7.581 - Added with flu, plague, malaria, sleeping sickness.
• 0.9.722 - Diseases can now cause vomiting.