One of the interesting things about CTS was that it didn't affect everyone the same way. Mikey, for example, was not picking up the characteristics of others. He had skipped that stage, as some did, and would merely be infectious for a time before being perfectly fine.
Some people were merely infectious, some both changed and became infectious, and some changed and did not pass the disease along. Either way, the disease would eventually disappear for a time, but Jon had let a 'genie out of its bottle". Even if the disease went away, diseases often came back. And there was no cure.
Mikey ran into the kitchen and gave his mother a hug. Then he went and started his choco-puffs, unknowingly infecting her.
