BY SAMANTHA BRIGHT / Kalamalama Staff
Amidst a 3 year long global pandemic, the new hit TV series “The Last of Us,” based on a popular action and adventure game released in 2013, makes people wonder about what disease might be the one to bring an end to the human population.
While viruses seem to be on everyone’s mind lately, “The Last of Us” goes into detail about how a fungus has destroyed the human race in this post-apocalyptic version of the earth.
The explanation given to how the fungus does so seems plausible, and people have begun to wonder if this series is correct, and if so, just when this type of tragedy might hit the human race. But here’s why these events are highly unlikely to occur, and even if they did, why it wouldn’t happen to the same extremity seen in the show.
How fast can a fungal infection spread?
Much like the current COVID-19 virus and other viral infections, people with compromised immune systems are more likely to be affected by a fungal infection. This being said, fungal infections spread much differently than viral or bacterial ones.
In “The Last of Us,” the fungal infection is spread when an “Infected” bites someone, or when the fungi’s spores sometimes found in the air are inhaled. People in this universe carry masks to prevent inhaling the spores and are careful to avoid and kill those that are Infected in order to not get sick.
In real life, fungal spores in the air can in fact cause a fungal infection by inhalation or skin contact, but very few forms of fungi and mold actually spread human to human meaning that it would be difficult for it to spread as quickly as it did in the show.
Could fungi evolve to survive our body temperature?
When fungi are able to infect a human, they typically stay on the skin of the outer extremities of the body where it is coolest, and most cannot survive a person’s internal body temperature of 98 degrees fahrenheit.
Certain fungal infections, such as candida auris, are able to survive in the bodies of very sick people and can be a very concerning and often deadly disease, but the typical healthy human is at no risk for this happening.
The main concern for fungi surviving our body temperature comes from the risk of the fungi evolving with global warming.
As temperatures continue to rise over the years, it is possible that far in the future fungi will adapt to survive warmer temperatures in order to cope with global warming and will therefore be able to survive the internal body temperature of a human.
This will, however, likely take several million years of genetic changes and mutations to reach that point, and it’s much more likely that other issues with global temperatures rising and environmental changes will cause issues before a fungal pandemic even becomes a possibility.
Would it really have such dramatic effects on our body?
In the show, the fungal infection that is affecting humans is a mind-controlling fungus that eventually causes the body to decompose as they become these flesh-hungry infected creatures.
Over time, there are more effects on the infected, and eventually after being sick for a year the fungus completely takes over their body, causing them to go blind and rely on sound and echolocation to get around and attack.
The fungus that started the pandemic in the show is known as ophiocordyceps, and it is in fact a real fungus. This fungus, however, only infects insects and humans are immune to it.
When insects such as ants are infected, it simply takes over the control of their body, forcing them to find high up spots in trees and sit there so the fungus can expel its spores to reproduce, before killing the host insect. While the fungus often grows out of the insect’s body, there are no real grotesque effects to the appearance of the ant.
It is true that some other fungi can infect the human body, but the real-life effects of a fungal infection are not quite the same as those seen in the video game and TV series. Fungal infections on the skin and nails are typically rash-like and can be itchy or irritating.
A fungal infection in the lungs is more serious and typically is identified by asthma-like symptoms, as well as fatigue, chest pain, itchy skin, weight loss, joint aches, and muscle pain.
Most fungal infections can be cured with either a special ointment on the infected area, or with oral medicine for more severe cases.
Can fungi intentionally turn humans evil?
While fungi are capable of decision making and respond to their changing environment, they are not sentient beings. Their goals are to live, grow, and reproduce. When the fungi in the show take over human bodies they seem to control the mind and make the humans aggressive flesh-hungry beings.
The way the show describes it, the fungus makes the humans delirious and primal in a way, forcing them to want to attack and eat anything they see in order to survive, because if the host survives then the fungus will too.
While this type of control is possible, it seems like too much for too little for the fungus, and there are many ways the fungus could spread with much less work or effort needed.
The fungi also don’t have the intention of turning the entire human race into cannibalistic creatures, and simply want to grow and reproduce in their changing environment.
In the end, “The Last of Us” features some very interesting and thought provoking research that can be backed up with scientific evidence. It bases the events on a possible evolutionary process that leads to this fungus being able to control humans and destroy the planet as we know it.
This does lead to many questions and concerns about the plausibility of this event occurring. While fungal infections can be serious and will likely become a bigger threat as global warming continues and our environment changes, there are many facts that show how this event could not occur to the extremity or severity as seen in the show.
