Walker bites aren't lethal?

[Aragiss]

Quote from TWD Wiki page:

"Zombie bites are not necessarily fatal because of the zombie pathogen, but rather the unsanitary nature of their mouths due to diet and decomposition. Scratches cause similar infections for similar reasons.

It should be noted that zombie saliva and scratches are not guaranteed to kill, as both Tyreese and the Governor have come into contact with both and were unaffected."

Link: http://walkingdead.wikia.com/wiki/Zombies

Uh, so can you just clean the bite wound and be fine? Why don't anybody do that in the game or TV series?

[Hopper]

Cleaning the wound isn't easy. Think of it like the "5 second rule". Unless you can remove the limb or clean it immediately, you're screwed.

[RageMojo]

It would depend on the type of wound. If thy rip your flesh away, your not cleaning it in time like Gaz said. A quick amputation seems to be the only safe way.

Also for the record, sites like that one are generally monitered but wiki'sare not always right and people can make edits. So unless the source is Robert Kirkman directly, take it with a grain of salt.

[Aragiss]

First of all, 5 second rule is bullsh.t. Also, nobody even tries to clean the wound. Even if there's no soap, rubbing alcohol etc., trying to clean it with water could make a huge difference opposed to letting the saliva just sit there.

[Sero]

Originally posted by RageMojo:

It would depend on the type of wound. If thy rip your flesh away, your not cleaning it in time like Gaz said. A quick amputation seems to be the only safe way.

Also for the record, sites like that one are generally monitered but wiki'sare not always right and people can make edits. So unless the source is Robert Kirkman directly, take it with a grain of salt.

Well, the site itself quotes Kirkman but you can never be sure it's legit.
However, it makes a pretty solid story. Why would there be two kinds of germs? As I am saying this I come to the realisation that it could be a badly engineered bio-weapon, so nevermind that.
I believe in that theorie though. The bites merely give you a sepsis like the comodo dragons bite does. And don't argue that there are no comodo dragons in the USA, it has nothing to do with it.

[Aragiss]

I mean, people in TWD view even small bites as a death sentence. If I was bit, I'd immediately do everything I can to clean it. But Lee was like "oh well..."

[Sero]

Originally posted by Aragiss:

I mean, people in TWD view even small bites as a death sentence. If I was bit, I'd immediately do everything I can to clean it. But Lee was like "oh well..."

Maybe they are oblivious to it or it just fits into the story.

[Jamison]

I always thought of the bites and scratches as a acceleration for the virus. We know that everyone has the virus, and when you die, you come back...no matter what.

Maybe the bites and scratches, due to the santitization factor, or lack thereof, just greatly increases the virus, moving it from dormat to active.

That's the only way I can see.

[RageMojo]

Originally posted by Sero:

Originally posted by RageMojo:

It would depend on the type of wound. If thy rip your flesh away, your not cleaning it in time like Gaz said. A quick amputation seems to be the only safe way.

Also for the record, sites like that one are generally monitered but wiki'sare not always right and people can make edits. So unless the source is Robert Kirkman directly, take it with a grain of salt.

Well, the site itself quotes Kirkman but you can never be sure it's legit.
However, it makes a pretty solid story. Why would there be two kinds of germs? As I am saying this I come to the realisation that it could be a badly engineered bio-weapon, so nevermind that.
I believe in that theorie though. The bites merely give you a sepsis like the comodo dragons bite does. And don't argue that there are no comodo dragons in the USA, it has nothing to do with it.

Look at it this way, this is techincally correct no matter how we slice it because everyone is already infected, so the zombie virus itself isnt lethal obviously, or everyone would have died. But since the living carry the pathogen, coming into contact with the zed makes any wound hyper virulent.

The article also states "f the wound is not properly cauterized, cleaned, and/or wrapped, however, amputation may not be enough to stop the lethal infection without medicine, and even then, survival rates are not easily estimated, as only few individuals have survived the procedure in each medium."


"amputation may not be enough to stop the lethal infection without medicine, and even then, survival rates are not easily estimated, as only few individuals have survived"

So cleaning the wound has little success rate because even amputation has a small success rate.

[Hopper]

Originally posted by Aragiss:

First of all, 5 second rule is ♥♥♥♥♥♥.t. Also, nobody even tries to clean the wound. Even if there's no soap, rubbing alcohol etc., trying to clean it with water could make a huge difference opposed to letting the saliva just sit there.

A zombie bites you, its teeth are stuck in your flesh. It's not letting go! You smash its head... now you're covered in zombie guts and have an open wound. Is the fight over? Do you need to keep running? By this point it's probably too late... My point is, there's no realistic situation where you can just stop and clean the wound in time.

And water wont do a thing. Boiling water might, but by then it's too late... again.

[Sero]

Originally posted by RageMojo:

Look at it this way, this is techincally correct no matter how we slice it because everyone is already infected, so the zombie virus itself isnt lethal obviously, or everyone would have died. But since the living carry the pathogen, coming into contact with the zed makes any wound hyper virulent.

It literally makes no difference how and why it happens, at least not for the comon survivor.
By that I mean that maybe some scientist can work with it but I sure as hell don't.

[Gamechamp]

We haven't really gotten a straight answer. In Letter Hacks, the most detailed Kirkman has gotten is "People who have been bit die due to infection." It isn't clear if he means "infection by a specific deadly virus" or "an infection of the wound due to the collection of bacteria that's been steadily growing in the zombie." I'm personally inclined to think the latter, but then you have situations like how everyone treats a recently turned person biting someone being a death sentence somehow. If someone's only been dead a few minutes, you would expect a bite from them to be no worse than a bite from a living person, right? They haven't had time to decompose. Assuming infection of the wound is the real danger, then as long as you're not bitten in a vital area you should be fine if the attacker is recently deceased.

[Hopper]

@Gamechamp
That's a really good point. A little bite from a very fresh zombie isn't much different than little bite from a living person. But since everyone is infected, does that mean if your feisty girlfriend bites you a bit too hard and draws blood... that you're gonna die?

[Walker☻//︻ ---]

Just remember this information for zombie bite/virus infection is totally fictional and not real so subject may change per game universe. Btw anyone noticed there suddently about 10 threads for spanish in page1?

[Sero]

Spanish people gotta be so very inattentive. But to me it seems more like some kind of DDoS attack.
BTT: The rules change depending on the Zombie Universe but we are talking about TWD here.
In Dawn of the Dead the undead would only attack humans, 28 days later would infect you if they as much as sneezed at you though they don't get a cold an so they simply vomit blood at you.

[Reedy]

If I go and see a bunch of people dying and turning after being bit, I'm not just going to assume that I won't suffer the same fate if I get bit. My first instinct is going to be "I'm dead unless I amputate" and whatnot. Not "Let's clean my arm and hope it goes away."