History Main / TheDiseaseThatShallNotBeNamed

* One of the children terrorized by Kamara the Monkey-King in ''Saga of the ComicBook/SwampThing'' has some ''very'' frightening ideas about "cancer", as a relative had subjected the kid to dire warnings about it without actually explaining what it ''was''.

** In another incident, a young boy is healed from ConvulsiveSeizures, which were chalked up to DemonicPossession, but are [[ScienceMarchesOn now thought to be]] {{Epilepsy}} or some other seizure disorder. Somewhat justified in that neuroscience wasn't a thing yet, so many mental disorders and neurological disorders were thought by people of that time to be caused by demons, rather than flaws in a person's nervous system or brain chemistry.

* At the end of ''Film/ForrestGump'', Jenny tells Forrest that she's "sick". It's never said what she had, only that it's a virus and was terminal. Given the disapproving tone surrounding Jenny's Bohemian lifestyle outside of Forrest's orbit, and that Jenny could be seen as experiencing the "bad side" of decades versus Forrest's hopeful one, it was often assumed the 1980s setting meant it would be AIDS. An especially sad case as Jenny was still incredibly unsure of herself when she left Forrest the second time before Forrest Jr. was born, and a relapse occurred during their life apart. Also leads to some complaints that verge on RealityIsUnrealistic, since the fact that neither Forrest nor their son seems to be infected ''can'' happen if an infected person is careful, and straight men are at low (though not zero) risk of infection through sex. The worst part is that Jenny exhibits no symptoms of her disease while dying other than feeling very, very tired... making her appear to be the physically weakest human being in history. WordOfGod indicates that it was Hepatitis C.

* Subverted in the short story "Roman Fever" by Edith Wharton. Mrs. Ansley and Mrs. Slade reminisce about their youth when high-class girls like them were discouraged from going out after dark in Rome, as it would cause them to catch [[TitleDrop "Roman Fever,"]] a debilitating illness that would leave them bed-ridden for months. Neither specifically say what it is, but the narrative hints that it might be malaria. [[spoiler:It's really a euphemism to hide pregnancies. When a young girl goes out with her beau after dark and gets pregnant, the family uses the socially acceptable excuse, "Oh, she caught Roman fever" in order to hide her from society until the baby is born.]]

Contrast IncurableCoughOfDeath and SoapOperaDisease, where the illness consists of symptoms that are [[JustForPun ill]]-defined and vague (and oddly convenient to the plot). In this trope, the work ''could'' identify the illness, but won't due to cultural or ethical restrictions.

* ''VideoGame/{{Persona 3}}'': During the final two months of the game, [[spoiler: the protagonist is sick and weak from a mystery disease that he does not mention to anyone, as they've all been afflicted with amnesia to forget the past year they spent together. As time goes on, the protagonist gets sicker. It turns out the disease is his willpower wavering, after sealing away an InvincibleVillain with nothing but the power of his soul to hold it back. [[HeroicWillpower He managed to hold on and survive for two whole months (while also keeping Nyx sealed and at bay), in order to fulfill a promise he made,]] to meet his friends on the roof of the school on the day of their graduation, so they could look back on the world they saved. His friends [[RememberedTooLate remember the promise at the last second,]] and rush to meet with him. The protagonist finally succumbs to the illness, [[CruelTwistEnding just seconds before he could fulfill his promise to his friends.]]]]

* ''Literature/TheNumberOneLadiesDetectiveAgency'' is set in Botswana, and the recent AIDS epidemic is occasionally mentioned, but referred to only as "the terrible disease" or similar.

* In the ''Trixie Belden'' series, Honey's governess, Miss Trask, had an ill sister. Miss Trask looked after her in the hospital when she was chaperoning the B.W.G.s and their friends in New York in ''Mystery of the Blinking Eye''. They never mentioned what the sister had, though.

Compare DiseaseByAnyOtherName, which is a disease which isn't known to the characters, but is by the audience. Contrast TheTopicOfCancer and TragicAIDSStory for the respective awkwardness and tension that mentioning such diseases by name can cause. See also SecretlyDying (which this trope often entails), NeverSayDie, VictorianNovelDisease, DelicateAndSickly, LittlestCancerPatient, TheScottishTrope, and GoodVictimsBadVictims. See also DiagnosedBytheAudience, where the audience decides what a character has for themselves.

* Another STD example appeared on ''Series/DrQuinnMedicineWoman''. In the series first episode, prostitute Myra comes to see Dr. Mike about a "female problem". Later, Dr. Mike tells Hank, owner of the local brothel, that Myra needs to be "chaste" for several weeks. When he complains about the loss of revenue, she warns him that he'll lose a lot more if she has to treat his customers as well. In a later episode, Hank asks why Dr. Mike has been oblivious to the fact that her sister Marjorie is ill--"That husband of hers left her with more than anyone suspects". Mike realizes what the problem is and gently tells her sister, "It's not your fault, he gave it to you", then offers to give her an injection of silver nitrate in order to clear up the infection. Given the treatment mentioned, it's obvious that Marjorie's unfaithful husband has given her gonorrhea.
* ''Series/TheHoganFamily'': The first use of the word "condom" and what it's for on a (US) fiction TV show was in a VerySpecialEpisode during the series' second season (episode titled "Bad Timing," when Valerie told David to use a condom if he had sex with his girlfriend. The episode aired with a {{content warning|s}}.