REAL-LIFE ZOMBIES

How much science is there behind the grasping undead creatures of horror flicks?

-  SCOTT DUTFIELD

It's been decades since the rage virus escaped from a primate research laboratory in Cambridge, but now we can finally find out what the zombie-infested world has come to in the 28 Days Later sequel, coming to cinemas on 20 June 2025. Aptly named 28 Years Later, it follows a group of survivors living on a small island before they set off to the mainland to investigate the virus that's transformed its hosts into mindless killing machines. Thankfully, there's no such virus that exists in the real world, but Hollywood largely drew its inspiration for this movie from the properties of a pathogen that's passed on through a bite, in particular rabies.

It's estimated that 59,000 people die from the rabies virus each year. The majority of those contract the disease from a dog bite. Once infected, people typically present their symptoms in one of two ways: paralytic rabies or furious rabies. Also known as 'dumb rabies', the paralytic version of the disease causes its sufferers to experience a range of symptoms such as muscle weakness, drooling and paralysis. The symptoms of furious rabies, on the other hand, are much more severe and have been replicated on screen to create what we recognise as quintessential zombie behaviour.

For around 80 per cent of sufferers, rabies manifests with hyperactivity, hallucinations, hydrophobia (a fear of water) and erratic behaviour. This can also come with the desire to bite another person... sound familiar? The heightened aggression and desire to bite help the virus spread. Once infected with rabies, the virus travels through the body's nervous system until it finds its way to the salivary glands, where it will replicate and inevitably find its way to another host.