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⁴Ultimately, most people die because the brain is deprived of oxygen, and "causes of death" are basically explanations of why * a particular person's brain wasn't getting any oxygen*.

⁴Ultimately, most people die because the brain is deprived of oxygen, and "causes of death" are basically explanations of why a particular person's brain wasn't getting any oxygen.

Jenner: It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage, the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death.

1. Everyone is already infected with whatever turns corpses into zombies, but it doesn't seem to affect them.

2. When a zombie bites you, it infects you with mundane (i.e., non-zombifying) pathogens. Unless you're bitten on a limb and quickly amputate that limb, you will die from blood loss (like Amy), the mundane infections (like Jim), or both (like Tyreese², perhaps).

3. It is hard to reconcile point #2 with the first Kirkman quote, but here's my best attempt: Once you're weakened to near-death from the blood loss or mundane infection, the zombie "virus" (or whatever it is) which has been laying dormant moves into your brain, causes the adrenal glands to hemorrhage, and the brain begins to fail. Vital organs start shutting down, and eventually, the brain is starved of oxygen and dies³.

4. After death, the brain is completely inactive or a while. Then the zombie "virus" (or whatever it is) reactivates the brain stem, and the dead body gets up and starts walking around, looking for people to bite. The rest of the brain remains dead.

There is a way to square this with Kirkman’s quote⁴, and more interestingly, with science. Dead bodies can be dangerous in and of themselves, so humans have always taken precaution with them. In fact, in a case where we have to handle corpses, such as after a natural disaster, there are a number of steps responders have to take to avoid infection and disease. For example, a rotting body can still transfer gastrointestinal pathogens, tuberculosis, and hepatitis to the living. So, one can imagine that a biting mouth of a rotting corpse, continuously chomping down on humans, isn’t the most hygienic place.

So the disease that killed so many people in the prison was something that we have in the real world, but it was far more deadly than it would be to us. Of those who were infected with the "flu" or whatever, we only know of two people - Lizzie and Glenn - who recovered; even those two only recovered after antiviral medication was delivered. At least 28 people⁵ - and one pig⁶ - died of the "flu", and at least two more people infected with the "flu" were killed before the "flu" itself could kill them.

²On the show - his death in the comic books was quite different.

³Ultimately, most people die because the brain is deprived of oxygen, and "causes of death" are basically explanations of why * a particular person's brain wasn't getting any oxygen*.

⁴The first quote in my "Word of God" section.

⁵At least 10 people from the prison community, and at least three unknown people from somewhere close to the prison. We don't know who they were or where they came from, but these guys showed up outside the prison fence, and clearly died of the same "flu":

⁶R.I.P., Violet. You were just too beautiful for this world.

Jenner: It invades the brain like meningitis. The adrenal glands hemorrhage², the brain goes into shutdown, then the major organs. Then death.

1. Everyone is already infected with whatever turns corpses into zombies, but it doesn't seem to affect them.

2. When a zombie bites you, it infects you with mundane (i.e., non-zombifying) pathogens. Unless you're bitten on a limb and quickly amputate that limb, you will die from blood loss (like Amy), the mundane infections (like Jim), or both (like Tyreese³, perhaps).

3. It is hard to reconcile point #2 with the first Kirkman quote, but here's my best attempt: Once you're weakened to near-death from the blood loss or mundane infection, the zombie "virus" (or whatever it is) which has been laying dormant moves into your brain, causes the adrenal glands to hemorrhage, and the brain begins to fail. Vital organs start shutting down, and eventually, the brain is starved of oxygen and dies⁴.

4. After death, the brain is completely inactive or a while. Then the zombie "virus" (or whatever it is) reactivates the brain stem, and the dead body gets up and starts walking around, looking for people to bite. The rest of the brain remains dead.

There is a way to square this with Kirkman’s quote⁵, and more interestingly, with science. Dead bodies can be dangerous in and of themselves, so humans have always taken precaution with them. In fact, in a case where we have to handle corpses, such as after a natural disaster, there are a number of steps responders have to take to avoid infection and disease. For example, a rotting body can still transfer gastrointestinal pathogens, tuberculosis, and hepatitis to the living. So, one can imagine that a biting mouth of a rotting corpse, continuously chomping down on humans, isn’t the most hygienic place.

So the disease that killed so many people in the prison was something that we have in the real world, but it was far more deadly than it would be to us. Of those who were infected with the "flu" or whatever, we only know of two people - Lizzie and Glenn - who recovered; even those two only recovered after antiviral medication was delivered. At least 28 people⁶ - and one pig⁷ - died of the "flu", and at least two more people infected with the "flu" were killed before the "flu" itself could kill them.

²Incidentally, this might give us some insight into the zombie "virus" (or whatever it is):

In at least 50% of cases, bilateral adrenal hemorrhage is associated with an acute, stressful illness (eg, infection...) or event (eg, surgery or invasive procedure).

Infections associated with extensive, bilateral adrenal hemorrhage are diverse; they include sepsis, wound infections, pneumonia, pseudomembranous colitis, influenza, varicella, and malaria.

Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome (purpura fulminans) represents hemorrhagic necrosis of several organs, including adrenal hemorrhage, in the setting of overwhelming sepsis. The syndrome frequently is characterized by a distinctly hemorrhagic skin rash. Although Waterhouse-Friderichsen syndrome originally was recognized in association with meningococcal disease, which still accounts for 80% of cases, the syndrome also has been associated with other bacterial pathogens, including Streptococcus pneumoniae, group A beta-hemolytic streptococci, Neisseria gonorrhoeae, Escherichia coli, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Haemophilus influenzae (group B), Salmonella choleraesuis, Pasteurella multocida, Acinetobacter calcoaceticus, and Plesiomonas shigelloides.

• E-Medicine

³On the show - his death in the comic books was quite different.

⁴Ultimately, most people die because the brain is deprived of oxygen, and "causes of death" are basically explanations of why * a particular person's brain wasn't getting any oxygen*.

⁵The first quote in my "Word of God" section.

⁶At least 10 people from the prison community, and at least three unknown people from somewhere close to the prison. We don't know who they were or where they came from, but these guys showed up outside the prison fence, and clearly died of the same "flu":

⁷R.I.P., Violet. You were just too beautiful for this world.

⁶R.I.P., Violet

⁶R.I.P., Violet. You were just too beautiful for this world.