The Facts on The ‘Soap Opera Virus’ of 2006

Jul 25

It’s not surprising that popular television shows can have an impact on society. Just look at the Rachel haircut that Friends made popular in the 1990s, or how much companies are willing to spend on Super Bowl ads, or how I have to second guess if some mundane item in my house is actually cake.

It's always cake! — EVERY FREAKING TIME!

See? Television definitely makes an impact but in Portugal in 2006, one of the highest-rated television dramas gave children a virus… sort of.

Morangos com Açúcar / Strawberries with Sugar

Morangos com Açúcar or as it’s sometimes known internationally, Sweet Strawberries (Strawberries with Sugar is a literal translation) was a Portuguese teen drama airing from 2003 to 2012 that followed the lives of teenagers… and it was pretty popular. Think Degrassi, no, not the original, I’m talking Degrassi: The Next Generation big.

But, if you want to talk numbers, at the height of its popularity, Morangos com Açúcar had a 42% viewing share. This means 42% of all televisions in Portugal were watching the show when it aired so, it’s not surprising that some storylines really resonated with its viewing audience.

Unfortunately, the storyline that made an impact was one of a virus spreading rapidly through the fictional school of Colegio Da Barra, where all the main characters attended. Details are pretty sparse and I could only find snippets on YouTube but it all started in the school’s laboratory.

While working on an experiment involving viruses, as one tends to do in high school, an accident occurs and a student releases the virus. A nearby student catches it, starts coughing, develops a rash, and it spreads quickly. The school is then quarantined and it’s up to some investigators and the school nerd to solve the case!

Strawberry with Sugar Virus 2006 — I don’t speak Portuguese but I’m pretty sure he just said “we’re fucked.”

Since it was a teen drama, a cure is developed by the end of the episode and everyone lived happily ever after… until the next episode. But until then; no more rashes, difficulty breathing, or dizziness for the students of Colegio da Barra.

As for the real world, that episode aired in 2006 when the show was averaging a 38% viewing share so, unsurprisingly a lot of teens watched it. Soon, students started to develop symptoms strangely similar to the fictional virus and it wasn’t long before schools were forced to close.

Strawberries with Sugar Virus

In May of 2006, just as schools were winding down and students were preparing for their finals, the Padre António Vieira Secondary School reported 22 cases of an unknown virus spreading rapidly in its halls.

Students complained of difficulty breathing, rashes, and dizziness with some reports of fainting. Officials were unsure what exactly was causing it but some attributed it to a serious allergic reaction. Nonetheless, the school closed its doors.

Word started to spread of this unknown allergen or virus causing various symptoms and targeting only the students. Soon, the Escola Básica Casal Novo (an elementary school) also closed after 43 of its students were sent to the Santa Maria Hospital.

Like the television show, it was time for the investigators to step in, and enter the INEM, Instituto Nacional de Emergência Médica (National Institute of Medical Emergency). It’s not detailed how the INEM figured out these symptoms were essentially a case of mass hysteria but I like to think someone had a House moment at the last minute.

House always wins — “Why doesn’t vicodin come in small sugar-like packets… wait a second!”

Mass Hysteria

In case you’re not sure what mass hysteria is, it’s described as a “contagious dissociative phenomena that takes place in large groups of people or institutions under conditions of anxiety”. Think of it like a reverse placebo effect, if people start to really believe they’re sick, in rare cases, they’ll actually get sick and even present symptoms.

Take a group of highly susceptible people, throw in some confirmation bias, add a pinch of stressful situations, and you got yourself a stew of mass hysteria.

In the case of students in Portugal; the highly susceptible people were the young students watching a popular show, the confirmation bias was the other students feeling ill, and the stressful situation was the end-of-year exams.

Some medical officials found the symptoms the children were experiencing, such as rashes, were caused by other factors but since they were worried or had heard of this ‘new virus’, they exacerbated their own symptoms.

Unfortunately, when it comes to issues of the mind, those suffering aren’t cured right away. Even after it was confirmed to be mass hysteria, the ‘strawberries and sugar virus’ was still affecting students throughout the month of May. In the end, over 300 students were affected in 15 schools. Luckily since it was an imaginary virus, there were no deaths or lasting effects.

And that’s how a popular teen drama in Portugal accidentally gave children a case of mass hysteria. Meanwhile, all Degrassi ever gave us was Drake and I think that was on purpose, so it’s worse.