Daily Prophet May 5th, 1996
Science Section
Why Wizarding Diseases Differ From Muggle Diseases
By: Athalia Thumberdean
There are many serious and occasionally fatal diseases in the Wizarding world such as spattergroit, dragon pox, vanishing sickness, and scrofungulus. There are also many serious and, more often than in the Wizarding World, fatal diseases in the Muggle world such as Diabetes, Cancer, Malaria and HIV AIDS. Why, as both Wizards and Muggles are human, do they have different diseases? Why do Muggles never get Wizarding diseases (as many are contagious) and vice-versa? Well, as we discussed in the April 27th article, witches and wizards have an extra installment of sorts in there chromosomes that gives them the ability to perform magic. But it does more than just that; it also gives them immunity and susceptibility to certain diseases.
Essentially, the extra installment of their DNA also gives them immunity to Muggle diseases by constructing their immune system in a certain way. However, as the magical diseases also have extra installments in their DNA they are sometimes able to get around the witch or wizard's special immune system and infect them. The same process in reverse is almost exactly what happens with muggles. They do not have the addition in their genes that makes them immune to non-magical diseases so they are vulnerable to them, but the magical diseases are built to penetrate the witch or wizard's immune system and not the Muggle's, so they are immune to the magical diseases.
Why then do wizards and Muggles get the same mild sicknesses? With minor illness like the common cold and the flu, both immune systems do the same thing. Colds and influenzas are not magical so Muggles immune systems can sometimes not stop them. And as wizards are human and, despite what many believe, extremely similar to Muggles, the common and minor illness can potentially get through their immune systems as well.
The process is the same for Muggle-borns as any other witch or wizard, but the Squib process is quite different from the muggle's. As we discussed last time, wizarding parent's sex cells both have to be mutated to Muggle cells to create a Squib. So then one would expect Squibs to have the same immune systems as Muggles, but actually, they have something of a cross between a Muggle immune system and a wizarding one. Although they are, for the most, part biologically equivalent to Muggles, they are believed to have a small fraction of the Wizarding addition in there DNA. This partial addition is what gives them the ability to see Dementors and what makes them have a partially magical immune system. This hybrid immune system is created in such a way that it is not able to fight off either type of disease entirely. Unfortunately, this means that Squibs are susceptible to both magical and non-magical diseases.
Today, as more and more wizards are learning about the immunity that Muggles have to the terrible disease that plague them, they wonder if Muggles may hold the solution for curing them. And although most Muggles do not know wizards exist, some Muggles and pro-Muggle witches and wizards are attempting to use their immunity to Muggle diseases to help Muggles and vise-versa. To cure both sorts of diseases wizards are working with muggles who are the parents or guardians of Muggles-borns (as to not break the Statute of Secrecy) and have been working to develop more effective magical and non-magical remedies.
If the Wizarding World wishes to cure their illnesses and maladies, collaboration between wizards and Muggles is necessary. Many witches and wizards may feel that to seek help from members of the Muggle community is treacherous and a disgrace to wizard kind. These prejudice witches and wizards with fatal diseases that muggles are immune to have a choice. They can work with muggles to cure their illness or they can die.