DayZ deliberately gives several illnesses the same generic sickness icon. The useful diagnosis comes from two things the icon does not tell you: what happened just before the illness and which symptoms appeared afterward. Vomiting can point to Cholera, Salmonellosis, Food Poisoning or gas exposure, while Fever can appear with Cholera, Influenza or Stage 2 Wound Infection. Taking the “strongest” medicine at random wastes time and can leave the real problem untouched.
The sickness icon is a warning, not a diagnosis
The safe triage order is: remove the suspected exposure, identify the symptom pattern, match it to the recent cause, then use the medicine that actually targets that branch. Community medical mods can change this; the table below describes current vanilla 1.29 behavior.
Quick diagnosis matrix
Swipe horizontally to view all columns.
| Likely problem | Recent cause / clue | Typical symptoms | First response |
|---|---|---|---|
Cholera | Unsafe water, contaminated bottle/canteen, shared contaminated food/drink | Vomiting when consuming too much, fever, blur, fast dehydration | Stop suspect water; tiny sips/bites; Tetracycline or Multivitamins; clean water. |
Salmonellosis | Raw/rotten ordinary meat, fat or guts; bloody hands; contaminated shared food/water; cooked wolf/bear exception | Vomiting after too much intake, pain sounds, blur, Health damage | Charcoal Tablets or Multivitamins; clean hands; safe cooked food. |
Food Poisoning | Raw fish, burned/rotten food, gasoline, Unknown Food Can, some bloody-hand exposures | Vomiting, fatigue, Water/Energy loss, slow stamina recovery | Stop source; Charcoal Tablets or natural recovery. |
Wound Infection | Dirty dressing/sewing kit or letting a bleed close untreated | Stage 1 pain/blur/fatigue; Stage 2 fever, shaking, Health/Water loss | Stage 1: disinfect wound directly. Stage 2: Tetracycline. |
Common Cold | Cold exposure or respiratory contact | Sneezing | Get warm; vitamins/Tetracycline/immunity can clear it. |
Influenza | Cold progressed while still cold | Sneezing + coughing + fever | Stay warm; Tetracycline and/or vitamins; prevent Pneumonia. |
Pneumonia | Influenza progressed | Cold/flu symptoms plus gasping, high stamina drain and Health loss | Tetracycline is required to regress the stage. |
Heavy Metal Poisoning | Sakhal contaminated snow/hot-spring water | Progressive neurologic/health effects | Stop exposure; use heavy-metal-specific prevention/treatment; see G04. |
Gas Poisoning | PO-X / contaminated zone exposure | Coughing, vomiting, bleeding, Health damage, unconsciousness | Leave gas; PO-X Antidote or clean compatible blood protocol; see G17. |
Brain Prion Disease Hemolytic Reaction | Human steak/fat/guts Incompatible blood transfusion | Laughter, tremors Rapid Blood loss, unconsciousness after wrong-blood exposure | No cure: prevention is the only reliable plan. Stop the incompatible transfusion; supportive recovery if the survivor lives; prevent by blood-type compatibility. |
Use exposure history before symptom overlap
Vomiting alone is not enough. If the last risky action was drinking from a pond or a found bottle, Cholera moves up the list. If you butchered an animal bare-handed and then ate ordinary raw meat, Salmonellosis is stronger. If the trigger was raw fish, burned food, gasoline or an Unknown Food Can, current vanilla rules point toward Food Poisoning instead. If the illness followed a dirty dressing rather than food or water, use the Wound Infection branch.
This “cause first” habit also prevents a common error: repeatedly taking Tetracycline against Salmonellosis or Food Poisoning. Tetracycline is important for Cholera, respiratory disease and Stage 2 Wound Infection; Charcoal is the direct medicine for Salmonellosis and current Food Poisoning.
Medicine map: what each common item is for
Immune system: why a stable survivor handles disease better
Vanilla immunity is derived from the average state of Energy, Water, Blood and Health. It can resist or clear Cholera, Salmonellosis, Common Cold and Influenza when high enough; Wound Infection is different and is not solved by simply “being healthy.” Multivitamins temporarily push immunity to 100%, which is why they can help several infection branches at once.
A medical plan therefore has two layers: stop the direct cause and keep the survivor stable enough to recover. If vomiting is repeatedly deleting your Water and Energy, tiny controlled sips and bites are often more useful than trying to refill both icons in one large meal.
Item | Use it for | Do not assume
Tetracycline Pills | Cholera, Common Cold, Influenza, Pneumonia, Stage 2 Wound Infection | Not the direct cure for Salmonellosis or Food Poisoning.
Charcoal Tablets | Salmonellosis; speeds recovery from Food Poisoning | Not a Cholera antibiotic.
Multivitamin Pills | Raises immunity to 100% for about 5 minutes; helps Cholera, Salmonellosis, Common Cold and Influenza | Does not disinfect a wound or make contaminated supplies safe.
Disinfectant / Iodine / Alcoholic Tincture | Disinfect dressings and directly treat Stage 1 Wound Infection | Not enough by itself once Stage 2 is draining Health.
Chlorine Tablets | Prevention: treat ordinary pathogen-contaminated water | Not a cure for an illness already established; not a heavy-metal solution.
Medical Thermometer | Confirms Fever | Fever is a symptom shared by multiple illnesses, not a diagnosis.
When the hub is not enough
• Use G12 for a full Cholera recovery loop and reinfection prevention.
• Use G13 when raw ordinary animal products, bloody hands or predator steak point to Salmonellosis.
• Use G14 when illness began after a dirty dressing or untreated bleeding wound.
• Use G15 for the Common Cold → Influenza → Pneumonia respiratory progression.
• Use G17/G18 for contaminated-zone Gas Poisoning and NBC preparation.
• Use G04 for water purification and Sakhal heavy-metal decisions.