The rough part of the zombie apocalypse is that there are so many ways to die. Sure, there are the zombies, but there are also hostile humans. Then you have hostile wildlife, starvation, and, of course, disease. If nothing shoots you or tears you to shreds, the invisible germs all around you might be the final blow that does you in. Luckily, you can try a few tricks to survive the many diseases and illnesses in DayZ!

All DayZ Diseases: Symptoms, Cures, & Prevention

There are multiple ways to contract diseases, illnesses, or viruses in DayZ. The key is to be constantly aware of your surroundings and what you do. Whether you start coughing up blood, sweating, or vomiting, you'll have an easier time diagnosing your problem if you can remember where you've traveled, what you've touched, or your last meal. Being hyper-vigilant about your surroundings does more to prevent disease than anything else. Additionally, almost all diseases in DayZ are infectious. If you have a Cold and another player interacts with food you opened while you were sick, the disease will spread to them. As a result, one of the best things you can do after being sick with almost any disease is to clear your inventory of any consumables. Of course, you can also use certain disinfectants for consumables such as bandages and bandanas. Finally, most diseases move through stages. In stage one, you'll have fewer severe symptoms, and it will take fewer supplies to cure your disease. Cholera, for example, will require more Tetracycline or Multivitamin Pills if you let the disease progress for too long. Once more, it's best to be constantly aware of your surroundings and your character's behavior. If you see any signs of a disease starting, take action before it gets much worse.

All DayZ Diseases, Illnesses, & Viruses

Cholera

• Symptoms: Fever, Sweating, & Severe Vomiting
• Cause: Drinking unsafe water or receiving a blood transfusion from a sick survivor
• Treatment: Tetracycline Pills or Multivitamin Pills

Cold

• Symptoms: Sneezing & Severe Sneezing
• Cause: Exposure to cold
• Treatment: Tetracycline Pills or Multivitamin Pills

Frostbite

• Symptoms: Blue Skin & Permanent Max Health Reduction
• Cause: Prolonged exposure to cold
• Treatment: Keep Warm

Hemolytic Reaction

• Symptoms: Instant unconsciousness
• Cause: Wrong Blood Type transfusion
• Treatment: No cure, but the condition can last for up to three minutes

Influenza

• Symptoms: Sneezing, Coughing, Fever, Blurred Vision, & Increased Water Loss
• Cause: Develops from an untreated Cold
• Treatment: Tetracyline Pills or Multivitamin Pills

Kuru

• Symptoms: Uncontrollable random laughter and tremors.
• Cause: Eating Human Meat of any kind.
• Treatment: Suicide or Death

Pneumonia

• Symptoms: Shortness of breath, greatly reduced Stamina, & loss of Health over time
• Cause: Develops from untreated Influenza
• Treatment: Taking Multivitamin Pills while staying warm near the beginning of the disease. It almost always kills players after 24 minutes.

Poisoning

• Symptoms: Constant Vomiting
• Cause: Ingesting bad food
• Treatment: No cure, but a 1 Tetracycline Pill will reduce the duration of poisoning

Salmonella

• Symptoms: Vomiting & Severe Fever
• Cause: Raw meat consumption
• Treatment: Charcoal Tablets or Multivitamin Pill

Toxic Poisoning

• Symptoms: Coughing Blood, Losing Health, Unconsciousness, & Death
• Cause: Entering Toxic Zones
• Treatment: Receive compatible blood transfusion from a healthy survivor or use a PO-X Antidote

Wound Infection

• Symptoms: Light Pain Sounds, reduced Stamina, & Heavy, Blurry Vision
• Cause: Unclean Bandages
• Treatment: Tetracycline Pills

All DayZ Medical Equipment & Uses

• Disinfectants
  • Alcoholic Tincture
  • Iodine
  • Disinfectant Spray
• Healing Rags
  • Bandages
  • Rags
  • Bandanas
  • Sewing Kits
• Purifying Water for Drinking
  • Chlorine Tablets
  • Chelating Tablets
  • Filtering Bottle
• Blood
  • Blood Bag Kit (Combine with an IV Start Kit to enable transfusions)
  • Blood Test Kit can be used to determine player or Blood Bag blood types
  • Saline Bag (Combine with an IV Start Kit to boost blood regeneration)
• Temperature
  • Heat Pack (Warms the body)
  • Medical Thermomteter (Diagnoses a player's temperature and possible illness)
• Medicine
  • Charcoal Tablets (Treats poisoning and Salmonella)
  • Tetracyline Pills (cures bacterial infectious diseases)
  • Multivitamin Pills (can be used to cure some diseases and bolster resistance to contracting them as well)
  • Codeine Pills (cures flu-related diseases and can allow players to move faster when injured)
  • Morphine (suppresses flu-related diseases and allows players to move faster when injured for a brief amount of time)
  • Epinephrine Auto-Injector (resuscitates unconscious players)
  • PO-X Antidote (cures toxic poisoning)