Getera Disease

Getera disease, or GD, is a parasitic infection affecting individuals in the Silver Desert region of Cilvarth. The parasite that causes GD is carried by male geteras, small nocturnal beetles that seek out sleeping individuals for their body warmth.

GD affects thousands, but very few die. The disease is more severe in the young, elderly, or previously sick. Just a few hundred people die to GD annually, out of the hundred thousand that catch it.

Cause

Hover over me!

Getera

Miniscarabus viola

Small beetles found in the Silver Desert, no more than a centimetre long. They wave their bioluminescent antenna to communicate with other beetles, and put on a blinding display at night to attract mates.

Geteras carry a parasite simply known as a getera bug. These microscopic worms bury into the skin, leaving a tiny hole no more than half a millimeter wide.

These insects are abundant and nocturnal, entering houses at night through open windows. They are attracted to body warmth and will rest on a person while they sleep. It is at this point when the parasite will leave its host and climb on the person, burying inside the skin.

Symptoms

Typical Symptoms

High temperature
Localised rashes
Localised swelling
General bruising

Children only have one symptom of getera disease, a high temperature, which makes it a difficult disease to identify.

Adults display far more symptoms. Rashes and swelling around the bite is typical of this disease, as well as bruising around the body. More serious infections cause lethargy so intense it makes even walking a struggle.

Symptoms in the elderly are identical, only much more severe. Rashes and swelling occur more generalised, and bruising can sometimes cover the entire body.

Prevention

Arician tea is a natural deterrent of geteras. This aromatic herb grows in abundance around the southern coastlines of Aurea, and these beetles actively avoid its scent. Cilvarthians cannot smell this particular tea variant, so many people in the Silver Desert region will plaster bags of the tea around open windows and over doorframes.

Come on Stella, help me put these teabags up. They'll keep you safe at night from those nasty bugs.

But mummy, I can't reach! Can you do it for me?

I'm sorry darling, I can't. Mummy's too weak.

— Mother and daughter

Type

Parasitic

Origin

Natural

Cycle

Short-term

Rarity

Uncommon

Affected Species

• Cilvarthian
• Razhean
• Rubidian
• Delacourta

Associated Species
Getera

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