If you haven’t seen the prequel yet The Hunger Games, Ballad of Songbirds and Snakeswe recommend that you do not continue reading, as this article is loaded with spoilers necessary to talk about a pathogen that makes several appearances in the plot: the rabies virus.
That said, if you’ve read the book or already enjoyed the movie, released last Friday, November 17, you’ll know who he is. Jessup, the male tribute of district 12 in the tenth Hunger Games. Partner of Lucy Gray, he strives to take care of her from the moment they are both selected to fight in the arena. But, for some apparently strange reason, there comes a time when he turns against the young woman and, like the rest of the fighters, tries to kill her.
Coriolanus Snowwho watches everything from the other side of the cameras, discovers that Jessup is infected with the rabies virus. Therefore, she asks the boy’s mentor to send him water. It may seem innocent, but it is the perfect strategy to combat someone with this disease. Now, why do you make this decision? And equally important, what other clues about the rabies virus are there throughout the plot?
Rage in the prequel The Hunger Games
Coriolanus realizes that Jessup has rabies upon seeing his mouth full of foam, while trying to attack Lucy Gray. At that moment, he remembers that Lucy had told him that her partner was bitten by a bat during the trip to the Capitol. Everything fits. But why?
To begin with, because bats They are one of the main transmitters of the rabies virus. In fact, in USA They are considered the main cause of deaths from this pathogen.
As for foam, it is a common symptom in animals and people affected by rabies. It is because the virus attacks the nervous system of its guests, altering its ability to swallow. This causes saliva to accumulate in the mouth and acquire a foam-like consistency. It should be noted that rabies is by no means the only disease that causes this symptom. But it is quite representative. In fact, the prequel to The Hunger Games It already begins with a scene in which a rabid dog, with his mouth dripping foam, perhaps to leave that idea in the viewer’s mind.
But the foam and the bat bite aren’t the only clues to Jessup’s illness that appear in the film. The first hint that there is something more comes when he and Lucy Gray are hiding under the sand and she, seeing him getting sicker and sicker, tries to give him water from a puddle for him to drink. He not only She rejectsbut turns against it aggressively.
We have already seen that the rabies virus affects the nervous system. Basically, what is achieved is to manipulate the host to facilitate viral spread. And that is achieved in several ways. One of them is causing hydrophobia or, what is the same, aversion to water. If they drink water, the saliva will be diluted and there will be fewer viral particles in it, so it is more difficult to spread the virus with a bite. Therefore, the sick they reject water and they even appear fearful.
And so we come to Jessup’s next attention-grabbing trait: violence. Despite being great friends with Lucy Gray and even taking a bat bite from her for protecting her, there comes a time when he turns on her and tries to kill her. This is because the rabies virus also causes violent behavior in its hosts. Thus, it is easier for them to attack healthy individuals and infect them through bites.
Incubation too fast?
Perhaps there would be just one drawback to the way the rabies virus is portrayed in the prequel to The Hunger Games. And, in reality, Jessup gets sick pretty quickly.
Generally, the rabies virus takes between 2 and 3 months to incubatealthough it is true that there are extreme cases above and below, in which it may take a week or a year.
The tributes only spend a couple of days in their cage before going on to fight in the arena. And Jessup’s attack occurs on the second day of The Hunger Games. He received the bite during the train ride from District 12 to the Capitol and there are no references in the work about the distance between one place and the other. Therefore, we do not know how much time he spends on the train.
This makes it difficult to know how long the incubation time was, from exposure to the virus until symptoms appear. But it seems quite likely that it will be less than two months. Yes it could become about a week in totalso it wouldn’t be something so fictitious.
In any case, if it were, there would be no problem either, since it is still the plot of a series of books and, later, a saga of films. Of course, the prequel to The Hunger Games It has many details with little or no scientific evidence. But, in fiction, that is something that can be forgiven.