The last of us virus

While the audio log is pretty optimistic about Ellie's condition, several lines stand out: "an MRI of the brain shows no evidence of fungal-growth in the limbic regions, which would normally accompany the prodrome of aggression in infected patients.

Ellie has never shown any signs of fungal growth, so we're led to assume it never reached her brain, but this passage — through the difficult-to-parse jargon — seems to say otherwise: "antigenic titers of the patient's Cordyceps remain high in both the serum and the cerebrospinal fluid. But there are no signs of fungal growth and as a result, her body isn't actively fighting the infection.

What if, over the years, the Cordyceps infection has still infected her brain, causing Ellie to react with increased aggression in The Last of Us Part 2? Her rage-induced quest for revenge could become a full-on descent into madness because of the infection.

Many of the story trailers and interviews for The Last of Us Part 2 stress how Ellie is driven by revenge to a fault after someone she loves is hurt at the start of the game.

Of course, there is real emotion at play here, and the grisly nature of this violent, post-apocalyptic world is very far removed from reality. Is something more than emotions influencing Ellie's brain? Could the Cordyceps finally be getting to Ellie, influencing her decision-making? We don't know how her condition may have progressed during the five years between the first game and its sequel, and the doctor's log from the first game does state that her blood will grow Cordyceps in the right conditions.

In its weekly review on Covid published on Friday , the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said cases across the country were continuing to "increase rapidly," with the surge "driven by the omicron variant. Full coverage of the coronavirus outbreak. The health body said that CDC projections suggested the omicron variant may now account for approximately 95 percent of Covid cases in the U.

IE 11 is not supported. For an optimal experience visit our site on another browser. NBC News Logo. Covid Politics U. News World Opinion Business. Share this —. A Military Pamphlet that outlines the stages of infection.

The fungus grows while the host is still alive, with hosts undergoing four stages of infection. Stage one begins within two days of infection, wherein the host loses their higher brain function and with it, their humanity , rendering them hyper-aggressive and incapable of reason or rational thought. Within two weeks, the host enters stage two of the infection, wherein the fungus begins altering their sight as a result of progressing fungal growth over the head and corruption of their visual cortex.

After a year of infection, the infection enters stage three; scarring their face and blinding them, resulting in them developing a primitive form of echolocation to compensate. In very rare cases, if the host survives for over a decade, they reach stage four.

They develop hardened fungal plates over most of their body. When the fungus kills the host, the host's body grows stalk-like fungal projections which release infectious spores. The infection can also be spread through bites from living hosts.

Hosts can only be infected while alive, as the fungus is unable to infect dead bodies due to its parasitic nature, though dead infected can release spores regardless of stage. To protect themselves from airborne spores, survivors wear gas masks; Joel has one strapped to his hip as does Tess. Those who are immune do not need them, namely Ellie. The infection seems unable to spread in open air areas, such as the countryside, although some of these areas such as Lincoln and a suburban neighborhood in Pittsburgh possess a high population of infected.