The trope description says that "They spread the same way as any other normal virus" and that it's usually found in science fiction, which seems to imply that it has to literally be a virus or some other form of physical pathogen. However, several of the examples describe things that seem more like transmissible Brown Notes, e.g.
- An issue of The Authority had Apollo and Midnighter teaming up with alternate-universe versions of themselves to stop a killer meme: anyone who heard it would whisper it to the first person they saw and then commit suicide. They had to stop the meme from making its way to a TV studio, where it would be spoken on a live broadcast.
Do these belong here? Would it be useful to have a separate trope for that sort of thing where the important aspect is the method of spreading rather than the effect? (Several entries on Brown Note might also fit there.) Am I misunderstanding what this trope is about? Spike the Cat (talk) 18:31, 7 February 2018 (UTC)