Skyrim:Disease

Contracting a disease weakens specific skills or attributes of your character. Disease effects remain active until cured with a potion, garlic bread^HF, or at a shrine, which can be found in most hold capitals. Unlike in Oblivion, there is no Cure Disease spell and it is not possible to contract diseases from beggars. One particularly notable and somewhat unique disease is Sanguinare Vampiris, which transforms your character into a vampire three days after contracting it if left untreated. Multiple disease effects stack together. Carrying a disease may cause NPCs to say that your character looks sickly or should go to bed, although Arcadia in Whiterun will say things like this even if your character is healthy.

There are a number of ways to contract diseases in Skyrim, perhaps most commonly by contact with a creature, animal, or even some NPCs. Most diseases can also be contracted through traps found outside throughout Skyrim or in various dungeons. For those diseases, the first ID in the following table is for the disease when caught from a creature, and the second ID is the trap-specific version. Although the physical effects of the two versions of the disease are the same, the descriptions are often slightly different.

Diseases

Disease	ID	Description	Source
Ataxia	000b877c	Picking locks and picking pockets is 25% harder.	Skeevers
	0010a24a	Picking locks and picking pockets is 25% harder.	Traps
Black Heart BlightDB	xx01ff2e	Drains 10 points from Carry Weight.	None
Bone Break Fever	000b877e	Drains 25 points from Stamina.	Bears
	0010a24c	Drains 25 points of Stamina.	Traps
Brain Rot	000b877f	Drains 25 points from Magicka.	Hagravens
	0010a24d	Drains 25 points of Magicka.	Traps
	fexxx872	Drains 25 points of Magicka.	ZombiesCC
DroopsDB	xx0285c1	One-handed and two-handed weapon damage is 15% lower.	Ash Hoppers
Rattles	000b8781	Stamina regenerates 50% more slowly.	Chaurus
	0010a24e	Stamina regenerates 50% more slowly.	Traps
Rockjoint	000b8782	You are 25% less effective with melee weapons.	Fox, Wolves
	0010a24f	You are 25% less effective with melee weapons.	Traps
Sanguinare Vampiris	000b8780/xx0037e9DG	Reduces Health by 25. Progresses to Vampirism.	Vampires
Witbane	000b8783	Magicka regenerates 50% more slowly.	Sabre Cats
	0010a250	Magicka regenerates 50% more slowly.	Traps

†Black Heart Blight is not possible to contract in the game.

‡Summoned Familiar inherited some of Wolves properties and it does spread Rockjoint.

Survival Mode^CC

The Survival Mode Creation adds new and modifies existing diseases. They can be contracted via contact with creatures, animals, and NPCs. Left untreated, most diseases will progress from its base form to a Severe or Crippling form after 24 hours. Each form is associated with more severe symptoms.

Advanced Diseases

Disease	ID (Normal, Severe, Crippling)	Description	Severe Description	Crippling Description	Source
Ataxia	000b877c, fexxx992, fexxx993	Picking locks and picking pockets is 25% harder. Progresses to Severe Ataxia.	Picking locks and picking pockets is 50% harder. Progresses to Crippling Ataxia.	Picking locks and picking pockets is 75% harder.	Skeevers
Bone Break Fever	fexxx830, fexxx984, fexxx985	Stamina is drained 25 points. Progresses to Severe Bone Break Fever.	Stamina is drained 50 points. Progresses to Crippling Bone Break Fever.	Stamina is drained 75 points.	Black, Brown, and Snow Bears
Brain Rot	fexxx82e, fexxx990, fexxx991	Magicka is drained 25 points. Progresses to Severe Brain Rot.	Magicka is drained 50 points. Progresses to Crippling Brain Rot.	Magicka is drained 75 points.	Hagravens
Brown Rot	fexxx914, fexxx98b, fexxx986	Light and Heavy Armor prevents 25% less damage. Sleeping is 25% less restful. Progresses to Severe Brown Rot.	Light and Heavy Armor prevents 50% less damage. Sleeping is 50% less restful. Progresses to Crippling Brown Rot.	Light and Heavy Armor prevents 75% less damage. Sleeping is 75% less restful.	Draugr of all varieties.
Droops	xx0285c1,DB fexxx996, fexxx997	One-handed and two-handed weapon damage is 15% lower.	One-handed and two-handed weapon damage is 30% lower.	One-handed and two-handed weapon damage is 45% lower.	Ash HoppersDB
Food Poisoning	fexxx918	Magicka and Stamina recover 50% slower, and food no longer restores Health for 3 days. Argonians and Khajiit are immune to this disease.			Raw Meat
Greenspore	fexxx912, fexxx987, fexxx988	Prices are 25% worse. Persuasion and intimidation is 25% harder. Progresses to Severe Greenspore.	Prices are 50% worse. Persuasion and intimidation is 50% harder. Progresses to Crippling Greenspore.	Prices are 75% worse. Persuasion and intimidation is 75% harder.	Slaughterfish
Gutworm	fexxx915, fexxx989, fexxx98a	Stamina regeneration is decreased by 25%. Food restores 25% less hunger.	Stamina regeneration is decreased by 50%. Food restores 50% less hunger.	Stamina regeneration is decreased by 75%. Food restores 75% less hunger.	Standard and Frost Trolls
Rattles	000b8781, fexxx98c, fexxx98d	Stamina recovers half as fast. Progresses to Severe Rattles.	Stamina recovers 75% slower. Progresses to Crippling Rattles.	Stamina no longer recovers.	Chaurus, Chaurus Hunters, and Chaurus Reapers
Rockjoint	000b8782, fexxx98e, fexxx98f	One-handed and two-handed weapon damage is 25% less effective. Progresses to Severe Rockjoint.	One-handed and two-handed weapon damage is 50% less effective. Progresses to Crippling Rockjoint.	One-handed and two-handed weapon damage is 75% less effective.	Foxes and Wolves
Sanguinare Vampiris	000b8780/xx0037e9DG	Health is reduced by 25. Progresses to Vampirism.			Vampires
Witbane	000b8783, fexxx994, fexxx995	Magicka recovers half as fast. Progresses to Severe Witbane.	Magicka recovers 25% as fast.	Magicka no longer recovers.	Standard, Snowy, and Vale Sabre Cats

Afflictions

Affliction	ID	Description	Source
Addled	fexxx911	Magicka and stamina regenerate 30% slower for 24 hours.	Can be caused by lack of sleep.
Frostbitten	fexxx913	Lockpicking and pickpocketing is 30% harder, and bows do 30% less damage for 24 hours.	Can be caused by excessive cold.
Weakened	fexxx910	You are 30% less effective with melee weapons and blocking damage with your shield for 24 hours.	Can be caused by hunger.

Notes

• Argonians and Bosmer both have a constant 50% Resist Disease ability.
• Werewolves and vampires are both immune to disease. Thus, a werewolf can never become a vampire, and vice versa. However, in Survival mode, werewolves are not immune to diseases, except Sanguinare Vampiris and vice versa.
• Spell Absorption provides protection against disease, thus the Bretons are at a natural advantage.
• Vigilants of Stendarr will cure diseases if asked to do so.
• Shrines will cure diseases and confer a specific blessing.
• Apparel with a Resist Disease enchantment will reduce the chance of catching a disease. Apparel that provides 100% disease resistance, such as the dragon priest mask Hevnoraak, will render you absolute immunity to diseases. However, this is not necessarily a license to act indiscriminately, since it does not protect against diseases that ignore resistances.
• Other enchanted apparel, potions, powers, or blessings can provide temporary or permanent bonuses that can at least partially mitigate the effects of diseases.
• In real-life, Ataxia affects victims' muscle coordination, balance, and visual focus. The in-game effect of Ataxia affects lockpicking and pickpocketing, which is consistent with its real-life effect.

Bugs

• You can occasionally still contract diseases from traps despite wearing apparel that grants disease immunity or being a vampire or werewolf, each of which have a constant 100% disease resistance, as traps apply the disease directly to you via scripts.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Patch, version 2.0.5, fixes this bug.
• Rarely, bone break fever drains 0 points from stamina instead of 25 points.
• In Survival Mode, Werewolves and Vampires are still immune from becoming each other, but are not immune to the new diseases added by the CC.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch, version 4.2.7, fixes this bug.
• In Survival mode, Spell absorption has a chance of curing a disease when it progresses to a more severe form.
  • The Unofficial Skyrim Special Edition Patch, version 4.2.7, fixes this bug.
• In Survival Mode, when a disease proceeds to the next stage it can be absorbed, but the effects of the disease may still be present even though it isn't shown in the Active Effects menu. ^?
  • A possible fix is to contract the disease again and let it proceed to the next stage and only then use potion or altar to cure it. Only then will all disease effects will wear off.^{[verification needed]}