Memory Alpha
Advertisement
Memory Alpha

Xenopolycythemia was a rare blood disease, causing excessive proliferation of red blood cells in the Human body. The disease was always fatal within a year if not treated early. The cure, possessed by the Fabrini in the 23rd century, was extremely uncomfortable, and the drug had to be administered in small doses at specific intervals during the treatment period. When given in time, recovery was 100%.

In 2152, when Captain Archer was kidnapped and put on trial by the Klingon Empire, Doctor Phlox told them he had xenopolycythemia so that he could meet with him. To convince the guard to leave, Phlox described the disease as highly contagious, and said that they should have put him Archer in quarantine. (ENT: "Judgment")

In the 2150s, a sample of this disease's pathogen was stored at Cold Station 12. (ENT: "Cold Station 12")

Dr. McCoy developed xenopolycythemia in 2268, but Spock discovered a cure among the technological lore of the Fabrini. Nurse Chapel administered a hypospray with the new medication, and reported that his "white corpuscle count is back to normal". Spock, after consulting his tricorder, added that "your hemoglobin count is back to normal, Doctor, which indicates that the flow of oxygen to each cell of your body is back up to its abundantly energetic level." (TOS: "For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky").

The Star Trek Concordance described xenopolycythemia as characterized by excessive proliferation of red blood cells, similar to the Earthly condition polycythemia which causes sluggish blood flow to the extremities, and clots which can lead to heart attack or stroke. On Earth, polycythemia is not contagious; it is usually caused by a genetic mutation, or is secondary to other conditions that increase blood production hormones or reduce oxygen levels in the bloodstream.
The name of the disease is derived from the classical Greek "xeno" (foreign) + "poly" (many) + "cythemia" (involving blood cells).
In the Star Trek: Mirror Universe story The Sorrows of Empire, the Enterprise-Fabrini encounter was either hostile or never occurred, and McCoy's counterpart soon died from the disease.
Advertisement