Vampirism is the vampiric affliction of being a vampire and being able to turn others into vampires.
In addition to being turned into a vampire, one develops a thirst to consume blood.
Vampirism in other media[]
- In the Blade cimematic universe, vampirism is treated as a horrible virus instead of as a mystical curse, carried in the saliva of vampires. After seventy-two hours upon being bitten by a vampire, it starts to flow into the human bloodstream, affecting the victim by creating new organs that are parasitic in nature and designed to keep the body alive through the consumption of blood. The weaknesses affecting vampirism are silver, garlic and ultraviolet radiation. A retrovirus was created to combat vampirism, but this only affects people bitten by vampires.
- In the Underworld series, vampirism is also treated as a virus, the same as the lycanthrope virus, and they're related to a common ancestor. According to Selene from the first film, most people bitten by either a vampire or lycan die within an hour because of the virus being lethal, and that nobody, excluding Michael Corvin, has ever survived a bite from both species. The only known method that is proven harmful to vampires is ultraviolet radiation. As the film series progressed, Selene's vampirism is strengthened by consuming the blood of Alexander Corvinus, the founding father of the immortal races, and she is able to survive in sunlight.