Let’s face it. Most things online are not true. In this age of “internet”, fake has become the new real. Hoax diseases have spread like wildfire across the net and have found takers in people who are unnecessarily concerned about their health. Deep inside your brain there exists a hungry lobe waiting to be deceived. Where diseases are concerned, people tend to overreact at even the slightest sneeze.
The internet is a useful tool to get information, but it can be misleading at times. Not all diseases, symptoms and remedies on the web are true. Quite a few of them are utterly ridiculous and a definite hoax. Started as a joke, most of these ailments and their symptoms have people running to doctors with a cry for help.
Here are a Few Mind Boggling Hoax Maladies That Don’t Really Exist.
1. Blue waffle
Blue waffle is a disease that is caused by bacteria that enters the vagina and infects it. The most common side effects include severe pain, itching and swelling in the region. The shade of the vagina and the vaginal discharge becomes blue. Other major side effect is the strong unpleasant odor which is quite noticeable. The bacteria thrive in moist, warm places and so affect the nether region more than any other part of the body. It is more likely to affect women than men.
Women can contract this disease in a couple of ways. The first of which is intercourse. Women who do not maintain personal hygiene are more likely to get infected with it. A councilwoman in the U.S fell victim to this hoax disease and believed that she was suffering from it. It appears that she fell victim to an internet hoax and an April fool’s Day prank.
2. Cooties
Cootie is an imaginary disease associated to children. The word originated from a Malaysian word that refers to a parasitic biting insect. The earliest use of the word was by British soldiers during World War 2, to refer to lice that proliferated in battlefield trenches. A child is said to be infected with cooties when in close contact with an infected person or from an opposite-sex child of a similar age. The infected person is perceived as peculiar, due to disability, shyness, being of the opposite sex, or having unnatural mannerisms.
Cooties was believed to be so common that people even came up with medicines for it. One prescription for people suffering from it was a liquid fire which was manufactured at Owl Chemical Company in Terre Haute, Indiana.
3. Lurgy
This disease first originated from a popular sitcom in the late 90’s. Later on, it became a household word and some people believed that they were down with the symptoms. This disease is the British equivalent of the “cooties”. The dreaded disease was said to be created by brass instrument makers who claimed that no brass band player had died of it. In the sitcom lurgy almost swept the whole of Britain.
The word lurgy is derived from the river named lurgy. Symptoms include the urge to cry out the word bizarre like “yack-a-boo”. This fictional ailment has been brought up a few times on many television shows.
4. Brainpox
In 1988, a thriller novel by Richard Preston first mentioned Brainpox. A teenage girl dies violently in school due to this disease. The book describes tests done in the sixties by the U.S. government involving weaponized viruses. Brainpox is described in the novel as a fictional chimeric virus that attacks the human brain. The infective agent, code-named “Cobra” by the protagonists, is a recombinant virus made from a combination the rhinovirus, smallpox and the Nuclear Polyhedrosis Virus (a normally moth-afflicting virus).
The virus invades the nervous system. The initial symptoms of the infection include common cold along with blisters on the nose and mouth. Besides its mention a few times, nobody has ever been said to have died from this disease.
5. Pa’nar Syndrome
Pa’nar Syndrome is a fictional degenerative neurological disease. It is caused due to mind melding of thoughts. Mind melding refers to sharing of thoughts and emotions through telepathy. This fictional malady was created for a very popular show called Star Trek and was contracted by one of the female leads. The enthusiasts of this show spread the word about this hoax syndrome and quite a few people ended up believing it.
The condition is said to be caused by an improperly trained mind meddler. The producer of the show later admitted that he was trying to spread awareness about HIV and the discrimination people face due to such diseases.
6. Zerophilia
It is a fictional disease that affects people with an extra “z chromosome”. Patients of this condition change sex after experiencing an orgasm during sexual intercourse. The protagonist in the 2003 movie called “Zerophilia” began to change into a female after getting intimate with a girl. The male lead was insecure about his masculinity and after that experience, gradually turned into a woman.
Later on, the protagonist of the movie changed back into a man after experiencing another orgasm with the opposite sex. Cure: Zerophiliac’s can only return to their original state by having sexual intercourse with another zerophiliac.
Few steps to ensure that you don’t fall victim to these fake stories
- Fake diseases will persist for as long as human nature persists. So instead of blindly following these hoax stories, always go for the legit and approved tests for conformation.
- Be smart! If it doesn’t sound right, it most probably isn’t. So instead of panicking, consult your doctors.
- Do not believe everything you see on the web. Make sure that there is good enough proof to support the story.
HEY ! I’m Nil (Founder of OnlineDrifts.com), Digital Marketer, Affiliate Marketer and a blogger writing about blogging tips, SEO, Tech Tips etc.
