Diseases (Skyrim)

For other uses, see Diseases.

This is a list of diseases that can be contracted in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. They are as follows:

Disease	Effect	Contracted from	FormID
Ataxia	Lockpicking & Pickpocket become 25% harder.	Skeevers Frostbite Spiders Slaughterfish Traps	000B877C 0010A24A
Black Heart Blight DR	Drains 10 points from Carry Weight.	N/A	xx01ff2e
Bone Break Fever	Stamina -25	Bears Traps	000B877E 0010A24C
Brain Rot	Magicka -25	Hagravens Traps	000B877F 0010A24D
Droops DR	One-handed and two-handed weapon damage is 15% lower.	Ash Hopper	xx0285c1
Lycanthropy	Ability to transform into a Werewolf (however this is not considered a true disease, as it cannot be contracted or cured in the same way vampirism or other diseases are)	Aela the Huntress	N/A, as the game does not treat this as a disease
Rattles	Stamina recovers 50% slower.	Chaurus Traps	000B8781 0010A24E
Rockjoint	25% less effective with melee weapons.	Horkers Bears Wolves Foxes Traps	000B8782 0010A24F
Sanguinare Vampiris	Health -25, progresses to 4th stage Vampirism if left untreated.	Vampires Bloodspring Lord Harkon Serana	000B8780 or xx0037e9DG
Witbane	Magicka recovers 50% slower.	Sabre Cats Traps	000B8783 0010A250

Curing or avoiding diseases

• The Temple of Mara in Riften cures diseases. To do so, one must elicit the priestess' blessing.
• Most diseases can be cured at a shrine to a deity. These shrines can be located in Hold Capitals, in caves, or randomly in the landscape. For example, in Whiterun, Shrines are located in the Temple of Kynareth, the Hall of the Dead, or the Statue of Talos. It is also possible to construct a shrine within homesteads with the addition of Hearthfire.
• Talking to Falion in Morthal and participating in his ritual will cure the Dragonborn of Vampirism. This is the only method in Skyrim (excluding DLC) to remove Vampirism, bar the transformation into a Werewolf.
• The Shrine of Nocturnal in the Thieves Guild is also able to cure diseases. It can be found there after completing the main Thieves Guild quest line.
• Potions of Cure Disease also remove all diseases when used.
• With the addition of Hearthfire, the Dragonborn can cook Garlic Bread which will cure their diseases. However, they must have built one of the available homesteads with a kitchen.
• The Vigilants of Stendarr also have the ability to cure disease. To trigger this, one must simply talk to one and ask to be cured. (They however will be aggressive towards vampires and werewolves)
• Lycanthropy is the only disease in Skyrim (excluding DLC) that is contracted (by choice, through a questline) and cured on the same questline (also by choice).
• Vampirism is similarly contracted (by choice) through the main questline in The Elder Scrolls V: Dawnguard. It cannot be cured in that questline. However, if the player sides with the Vampires, their Lycanthropy will be replaced with Vampirism (this is the only method of contracting Vampirism in Skyrim without having to experience Sanguinare Vampiris).
• The dragon priest mask Hevnoraak will confer an absolute immunity against any form of poisons and diseases, making it invaluable when taking on quests related to the Dawnguard, but it does not protect one from certain viruses.
• Eating a Hawk Feather will cure diseases.
•  PC   Using the console command player.removespell <Disease ID> will remove that disease.
  •  PC  Players can remove Vampirism by changing their character's race with the command showracemenu. Alternatively, using the command changesex will provide the same result.

Trivia

• Contracting a disease does not protect against developing another. The only exception is that having Lycanthropy renders it impossible to catch Sanguinare Vampiris, but Sanguinare Vampiris might not prevent Lycanthropy. In spite of what the Guide says, Lycanthropy and Sanguinare Vampiris, while increasing resistance to other diseases, does not confer 100% immunity.
• Should the Dragonborn contract Lycanthropy while under the effects of Sanguinare Vampiris, they would formerly still become a vampire, though their vampirism would be bugged and would not advance past stage 3. This has since been patched to make Lycanthropy and Vampirism cancel each other out.
• If the player contracts a disease, some characters will frequently comment on how ill the player looks.
• Although most diseases have negative effects, some have positive effects. For example, Lycanthropy gives one the ability to transform into a werewolf. Similarly, Vampirism (if contracted from Serana or Harkon during the Dawnguard questline) grants one the ability to transform into a Vampire Lord.
• Exclusive to the Dawnguard add-on, at the end of Redwater Den there is a spring releasing a red, blood-like water known as the Bloodspring. Activating it will cause a non-vampiric player to contract several diseases. It is possible to contract almost all diseases from the spring (including Sanguinare Vampiris) with the sole exception of Lycanthropy.