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Fallout 76 diseases: all the diseases, preventing and curing them

How to cure diseases

Dave Irwin avatar
Guide by Dave Irwin Former Guides Writer
Published on
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You'd imagine that diseases would be more of a problem in the Fallout universe prior to Fallout 76. After all, there are few doctors in the nuclear world of the Fallout universe and the apples are probably incredibly rotten or irradiated by now. But radiation poisoning is just one thing to be aware of now, as other nasty afflictions can include diseases.

Fallout 76 diseases guide

So you'll need to take different measures to prevent or cure any disease you may come into contact with. I've prepared this Fallout 76 diseases guide that details how to prevent contracting a disease, and how to cure them.

Preventing diseases is one important aspect of Fallout 76, but really there's a lot more to discover about the game itself. Those looking for a beginner's guide to get started with the game should have a look at our Fallout 76 guide hub.

Preventing diseases in Fallout 76

Much like how it works in the real world, the best way to combat any disease is to not get it in the first place. That may seem like common sense, but there are certain actions that will put you at more risk to getting any disease than not, so here are some of the known things you need to avoid doing.

  • Consuming raw food or untreated water.
  • Sleeping in beds that are not raised from the ground (ie: roll-out beds).
  • Swimming in radioactive water.
  • Traversing environments that are irradiated without a gas mask or hazmat suit.
  • Attacked by any enemies with the biohazard symbol next to their name. The type of disease inflicted depends on the enemy type.

Curing diseases

So you've somehow picked up a disease. That sucks. You won't see any physical symptoms on your character like a pox, but the diseases that you can contract are of a stupidly wide variety. More on that in a bit, but you're probably wondering how to get rid of it.

There are a couple of ways, namely by finding antibiotics, crafting disease cures, or just by waiting it out. Dying doesn't get rid of the disease, so if the disease is really hindering your progress, just seek out the cure. If you're ever in the position where you can find disease cures, make sure you have a few spare in case there's a particularly debilitating infection.

Alternatively, you can also head to the Whitespring Golf Club and look for the white gazebo. There you can drink from the sulphur water fountain to cure your disease.

Once you've contracted a disease, you normally can't get it again for 45 minutes. Different diseases can't be contracted for 30 minutes. The only exception to this is by leaving the server and joining a new one. The way that doing this can be helpful is if you picked up the Plague Walker mutation. This gives you a poison aura, the effect of which scales with the number of diseases you have at any given time.

Fallout 76 diseases and symptoms

Now you know how to prevent and cure the diseases, it's best to know everything about the diseases that you can contract in the game. Below is a table with all the diseases, their symptoms, and the duration should you wish to wait them out.

DiseaseSymptomsDuration
Blood WormsTake 25% more damage.15 minutes
Bone WormsTake 50% more limb damage.15 minutes
Buzz Drain-2 Intelligence15 minutes
DysenteryIncreased thirst rate.15 minutes
Fever Claw-25% ranged weapon damage15 minutes
Flap Limb-2 Strength15 minutes
Glowing PustulesBleed radiation from wounds.15 minutes
Heat Flashes-2 Endurance15 minutes
Jelly Fingers+50% Ranged VATS AP cost.15 minutes
Lock Joint+50% Melee VATS AP cost15 minutes
Needle Spine-10 Carrying limit15 minutes
ParasitesPeriodic food loss.15 minutes
Rad WormsTake 50% more radiation damage.15 minutes
Rattle Hands-25% damage with ranged weapons15 minutes
Shell ShockAP drain from wounds.15 minutes
Sludge LungMax AP: -50 AP Regen: -5015 minutes
Snot Ear-2 Perception15 minutes
Swamp Gas-2 Charisma15 minutes
Swamp Itch-2 Agility15 minutes
The BlightSuffer -1 to all S.P.E.C.I.A.L. stats.15 minutes
Weeping SoresBleed from wounds.15 minutes
The Woopsies-2 Luck15 minutes

Fallout 76 guide

Fallout 76 guide series

Now you know everything about Fallout 76 diseases. We hope you'll check back soon as there's the many quests that the game has throughout the ruined world of Appalachia, what each perk card does, and what you need to craft certain weapons. But for now, do check out the rest of our guides below:

Fallout 76 Wasteland guides

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