DayZ Medical & Health Guide
Field manual covering illnesses, injuries, treatments, blood compatibility, immunity, environmental effects, and medical item uses.
Illness & Disease Chart
Use symptoms, causes, and treatments to quickly identify what is wrong with your survivor.
| Condition | Symptoms | Treatment | Prevention |
|---|---|---|---|
Wound Infection | Stage 1: Pain sounds, blurry vision, slower stamina recovery. Stage 2: Fever, shaky hands, health loss, water loss. | Stage 1: Disinfect wound with alcohol, iodine, or disinfectant spray. Stage 2: Repeated  Tetracycline Pills | Only use disinfected rags, bandages, bandanas, or sewing kits. Bandage bleeds quickly. |
Cholera | Vomiting, dehydration, fever, fast water loss, vomiting after eating or drinking too much. | Tetracycline Pills,  Multivitamins | Drink from pumps/springs, purify water, empty or purify found bottles and canteens, maintain high immunity. |
Salmonellosis | Vomiting, pain sounds, hunger and water loss, health damage if unmanaged. |  Charcoal Tablets, Multivitamins | Cook food, wash bloody hands, avoid raw meat, avoid unknown contaminated food, avoid wolf/bear meat when possible. |
Poisoning | Vomiting, reduced stamina regeneration, sickness after eating risky food or drinking gasoline. | Charcoal Tablets every 5 minutes until gone, or wait it out while keeping immunity high. | Avoid gasoline, rotten food, burned food, raw fish, and large amounts of unknown food cans. |
Cold / Influenza | Sneezing, coughing, fever, blurry screen, increased water loss. | Tetracycline, Multivitamins, high immunity, warmth. | Stay warm and dry, avoid sick players, keep distance, avoid sharing food or drink, and use face coverings when near sick survivors. |
Pneumonia | Gasping for air, slower stamina regeneration, stamina actions cost more, health loss. | Tetracycline to reduce the illness stage, then continue recovery with warmth, high immunity, food, water, and Multivitamins. | Prevent cold exposure, stay warm, treat common cold and influenza before they progress. |
Heavy Metal Poisoning | Shivers, water loss, blurry vision, pain sounds, vomiting, health loss in later stages. |  Chelating Tablets | Treat snow water or hot spring water first. Use a filtering bottle when available. Boiling does not remove heavy metal contamination. |
Toxic / Gas Poisoning | Coughing blood, vomiting blood, bleeding, unconsciousness, rapid health loss in severe stages. |  PO-X Antidote for early stages,  clean compatible blood transfusion for severe poisoning. | Gas mask with filter plus full NBC hood, jacket, gloves, pants, and boots. |
Brain Prion Disease / Kuru | Tremors, shaky aim, uncontrollable laughter. | No Cure, permanent. | Avoid human meat, human fat, and human guts. Be careful with unknown fat sources. |
Wound Infection Prevention
Inspect rags, bandages, bandanas, and sewing kits before using them. If they do not show as disinfected, clean them with alcohol tincture, iodine, or disinfectant spray first.
If you are forced to stop a bleed with something that is not disinfected, bandages are safer than rags or bandanas, and sewing kits are the riskiest. Letting a wound clot naturally can also lead to infection.
Keeping disinfected items inside containers can help protect them from damage and preserve their disinfected status.
Cold Can Progress
A common cold can progress into influenza if ignored, and untreated influenza can eventually become pneumonia.
Codeine and morphine can reduce sneezing or coughing noise, but they do not cure the illness. Warmth, high immunity, multivitamins, and tetracycline are what help you recover.
Sick players can spread cold and flu through proximity and contaminated food or drink. Keep distance, avoid sharing items, and use face coverings when needed.
Gas Zone Survival
A working gas mask filter matters. Charcoal tablets can refill gas mask filters, and improvised filters can help for shorter gas-zone runs.
Missing even one NBC clothing piece can cause bleeds in contaminated zones, which can lead to toxic poisoning.
Be careful carrying blood bags into toxic zones. Tainted blood can cause toxic poisoning if used later, so keep clean emergency blood protected outside gas exposure when possible.
Contaminated Items
Sick survivors can contaminate food, drink, and blood. Avoid sharing food, water, or blood with infected players.
If you eat or drink while sick, consider that item contaminated and discard it after recovery.
Take One Extra Pill
Cholera and Salmonella can linger briefly even after the sick icon disappears. If you have spare medicine, taking one extra appropriate pill after symptoms clear can help stop the illness from returning.
Heavy Metal Poisoning Note
Heavy metal poisoning is mainly a Sakhal risk from untreated snow or hot spring water. Treat risky water first, and carry Chelating Tablets when traveling in areas where this illness exists.
Boiling can help with Cholera risk, but it does not remove heavy metal contamination. Use a filtering bottle or Chelating Tablets instead.
Injury Chart
Injuries can drain blood, shock, and health quickly if not treated.
| Injury | Stats Affected | Possible Effects | Treatment |
|---|---|---|---|
| Bleeding | Blood, Shock | Unconsciousness, death, wound infection risk if unmanaged. | Disinfected bandages, disinfected rags, bandanas, or sewing kits. |
| Fracture | Shock, mobility | Limping, unconsciousness from movement, no sprinting or vaulting while fractured. | Splint crafted from 2 sticks + rags, bandage, or duct tape. |
Fracture Recovery
A splint allows you to move with a limp while your fracture heals. Without a splint, recovery takes longer and movement can knock you unconscious.
A splint cuts recovery time roughly in half and lets you jog or vault small obstacles, but you still cannot sprint or jump larger fences until healed.
Morphine can help you travel farther on a broken leg before passing out, but it does not replace a splint.
Move Carefully with a Broken Leg
A broken leg causes shock damage when you move too quickly, which can knock you unconscious. Slow-walk or crawl until you can craft and apply a splint.
The pain foot indicator warns that your leg is close to breaking. Avoid more fall damage, traps, or leg damage until it fades.
Codeine or morphine can help temporarily, but a splint is still the proper treatment.
Bleed Safety
Treat bleeds as soon as possible. Letting wounds clot on their own can still carry infection risk and can leave you vulnerable while blood drops.
Bandanas and shemaghs can stop bleeds quietly, which can be useful in PvP, but they should still be disinfected first.
Blood Type Compatibility
Giving incompatible blood can cause a Hemolytic Reaction, rapid blood loss, and unconsciousness.
| Recipient | Can Receive From |
|---|---|
| O− | O− |
| O+ | O−, O+ |
| A− | O−, A− |
| A+ | O−, O+, A−, A+ |
| B− | O−, B− |
| B+ | O−, O+, B−, B+ |
| AB− | O−, A−, B−, AB− |
| AB+ | All Blood Types, Universal Receiver |
Blood Safety Tip
Use a blood test kit on yourself, another survivor, or a blood bag before transfusion. Taking your own clean blood early in a run can give you a guaranteed compatible emergency blood bag later.
Immune System Strength
Your immune system determines how resistant your character is to diseases. It is not shown directly in the HUD.
How It Works
- • Based on overall condition: food, water, blood, temperature, and health
- • Higher nutrition = stronger immunity
- • Low food, hydration, blood, or health weakens resistance
- • Affects disease contraction and recovery speed
Important Thresholds
- 72%+ - Resists Common Cold & Influenza
- 95%+ - Resists Cholera & Salmonella
- Below 50% - High infection risk
How To Boost It
- • Keep Energy and Water in white
- • Recover blood and health when damaged
- • Avoid starvation or dehydration
- • Multivitamins temporarily boost immunity
- • Stay warm and dry
Why This Matters
Many players believe disease contraction is random, but immunity plays a huge role. A warm, well-fed, hydrated survivor with strong blood and health can resist infection much better than a cold, starving, injured survivor.
If you are constantly getting sick, check your nutrition, hydration, blood, health, temperature, and wetness before burning through all your medication.
Environmental Conditions
Exposure to weather, temperature, and overeating can affect your survival and increase disease risk.
Hypothermia
- • Caused by prolonged cold exposure
- • Wet clothing reduces insulation
- • Causes rapid Energy loss
- • Increases risk of Common Cold
Wetness
- • Caused by rain or swimming
- • Reduces clothing insulation
- • Makes items heavier
- • Lowers maximum stamina
Stuffed Stomach
- • Caused by overeating or drinking too fast
- • Can lead to vomiting if exceeded
- • Dangerous when sick because vomiting worsens dehydration
How Environment Affects Immunity
Cold and wet conditions indirectly weaken your immune system by draining Energy and Water faster. Survivors exposed to harsh weather without proper gear are much more likely to contract illness.
Staying warm, dry, well-fed, hydrated, and healthy is one of the strongest preventative medical strategies in DayZ.
Medical Gear & Protection
Protective gear can reduce sickness transmission and allow safe travel through toxic zones.
Face Coverings
Masks, balaclavas, helmets, and other face coverings can reduce the spread of common cold, influenza, and pneumonia when you cannot keep distance from sick players.
A gas mask offers the strongest protection against illness transmission.
Gas Masks & Filters
A gas mask with an active filter is required to avoid inhaling toxic gas in contaminated zones.
Improvised filters last less time than standard filters, so bring backups or charcoal tablets when entering gas zones.
Full NBC Gear
A full NBC set includes hood, jacket, gloves, pants, and boots. Missing even one piece can cause bleeds inside contaminated zones.
Combine full NBC gear with a gas mask and active filter before entering static or dynamic gas zones.
Medical Items Quick Reference
Quickly identify what medical items are used for and when to carry them.
Where to Find Medical Supplies
Medical supplies are commonly found in clinics, hospitals, ambulances, medical events, and other medical locations across the map.
Multivitamin Pills
Temporarily boosts immunity. Helps prevent and treat Cholera, Salmonella, Common Cold, and Influenza when combined with good food, water, blood, and health.
Tetracycline
Treats Cholera, Common Cold, Influenza, Wound Infection, and can help with pneumonia progression. Pills work over time, so repeated doses may be needed. It is no longer the main treatment for regular poisoning.
Charcoal Tablets
Treats Salmonellosis and regular poisoning, and can refill gas mask filters. Useful for food sickness, poisoning, and gas-zone preparation.
Alcohol, Iodine & Disinfectant Spray
Disinfect rags, bandages, bandanas, and sewing kits. Can also be applied directly during early wound infection.
Chlorine Tablets
Purifies unsafe water to reduce Cholera risk. Use on found bottles, canteens, and other questionable water sources.
Chelating Tablets
Treats Heavy Metal Poisoning and can be used to treat risky snow water or hot spring water. Use these or a filtering bottle for heavy metal risk because boiling does not remove heavy metal contamination.
PO-X Antidote
Used for toxic gas poisoning. Most effective in earlier stages; severe poisoning may still require clean compatible blood.
Saline Bag IV
Boosts blood regeneration and provides some hydration. Combine Saline Bag with an IV Starter Kit before use.
Blood Bag Kit
Collects blood for later use. Combine with an IV Starter Kit to transfuse. Always verify blood compatibility first.
Blood Test Kit
Tests a survivor or blood bag for blood type. Use this before giving or receiving a transfusion.
Heat Pack
Provides temporary warmth and helps fight cold exposure, hypothermia, and weather-related sickness risk.
Medical Thermometer
Checks body temperature. A high temperature can help confirm fever from illness.
Epinephrine
Wakes unconscious players and provides a short stamina boost. Useful in emergencies or when escaping danger.
Morphine
Temporarily helps movement with fractures or low health, but it does not replace a splint and does not permanently fix a broken leg.
Codeine Painkillers
Suppresses some pain and cold/flu symptoms temporarily. Can help you move while injured and lets you travel a little farther on a broken leg before passing out, but it is not a full treatment.