Varför var Harv sjuk i Diamond Age?

Sjukdomen kommer från alla nano tech i luften.

Part the First, Nell sees some­thing pe­cu­liar; Harv ex­plains all:

"See, there's mites around, all the time...They're in the air, in food and water, every­where. And there's rules that these mites are sup­posed to fol­low, and those rules are called pro­to­cols. And there's a pro­to­col from way back that says they're sup­posed to be good for your lungs. They're sup­posed to break down into safe pieces if you breathe one in­side of you." Harv paused at this point, the­atri­cally, to sum­mon forth one more ebon loo­gie, which Nell guessed must be swim­ming with safe mite bits. "But there are peo­ple who break those rules some­times. Who don't fol­low the pro­to­cols. And I guess if there's too many mites in the air all break­ing down in­side your lungs, mil­lions– well maybe those safe pieces aren't so safe if there's mil­lions."

När det gäller varför han inte botades finns det ingen specifik citering, men från bokens övergripande ton hade Harv säkert kunde botas om han var rik, kraftfull, ansluten eller "värdefull". Eftersom han bara är en vanlig gata kid - tuff lycka.