The "Sickness," The Vaccine & Nosebleeds: An Exploration

As usual, I have no idea if any of this weaves together. But there has to be at least a sliver of correlation between the Dharma vaccine, the 'sickness' and the nosebleeds...

THE VACCINE

When we first met him, Desmond had been living on the island in the Swan hatch for three years and injected himself with a Dharma vaccine every 9 days (but did not know why; bunk mate Kelvin informed him that it was necessary to avoid the 'sickness').

Juliet has been on the island for just over three years, and is now experiencing the nosebleeds. Which leads me to believe that the vaccine may actually serve as an immunity to averse affects from the shifts back and forward in time...and Juliet was never vaccinated.

Remember that upon Ben's arrival on the island with his dad during the early Dharma days, all new Dharma employees and residents were injected with an unknown substance. And given Ben's lack of symptoms and many years on the island...it seems to make sense that the vaccination prevents time shift illness.

Side note: I believe that both the fertility vaccination that Juliet used on her sister Rachel and the injection that Ethan gave pregnant Claire are separate formulas from the one discussed above.

NOSEBLEEDS

In addition to those who are currently experiencing nosebleeds during the time shifts (Charlotte, Juliet & Miles), we have also seen other nosebleeds occur under different circumstances. However, it appears that at least on the freighter and due to a specific proximity to the island, a connection with one's Constant is the fix.

Ben's Dharma purge (gas from the Tempest was released)

Desmond on the freighter

Dharma worker beneath the Orchid

Horace Goodspeed during Locke's dream/vision

Minkowski on the freighter

Out of these four examples, I am primarily interested in the unknown Dharma worker. Was he simply affected at that very moment because he'd been on the island a certain amount of time, or was it because of his Frozen Donkey Wheel discovery and proximity? And why wasn't that particular Dharma employee injected with the vaccine upon his arrival on the island?

DISCREPANCIES

Faraday seems to think that the nosebleeds directly relate to how long one has been on the island. But Rousseau's crew was only on the island for 2 months when they started experiencing the sickness. So if that is the case, the 'sickness' and nosebleeds are not related and you can simply ignore this post entirely. :)

On the freighter, Dr. Ray injected Minkowski with an unknown substance when he started to experience the effects of mental teleportation...but Minkowski had the nosebleed after receiving the shot.

QUESTIONS

• If the island dictates when someone dies (i.e. when they're finished working on its behalf), does it also control if and when someone experiences time shift illness?

• Many of us are assuming that both Charlotte and Miles were born on the island and are possibly children of Dharma...and that they were getting nosebleeds because of that fact. But isn't it unlikely that Juliet was born/raised there too?

• Is it possible that Charlotte, Miles and Juliet do NOT have Constants? I would think that Juliet's sister would be hers...
  

• Was it Ben's decision to no longer vaccinate/immunize Others after he killed off the Dharma folk? Did he want some of his people to have a short shelf life on the island? Even Juliet?

• Since Richard Alpert is ageless, is he immune to the sickness and nosebleeds? What about the rest of the remaining Hostiles?

• Would Paik or Widmore Industries be the manufacturer/supplier of the vaccination?

• Back in Season 3, after Jack, Kate and Sawyer were taken to the smaller Hydra Island and put in the tank and cages (respectively)...Jack and Kate awoke to discover band aids on their arms; both were made to look like their blood was taken, but were they possibly injected with a highly concentrated dose of the vaccination? And if so, why them? Sawyer did not have a band aid but he could have been injected with the same thing when Ben pretended to have placed a pacemaker in his chest.

I'm sure that after I post this, many more related incidents will pop into my head that I'd wished I'd included. Alas, I have vacation brain and am hours away from flying to Hawaii. I'm sure that you'll hear more from me in the next 10 days than you ever really wanted to.

Aloha!