You can resolve the apparent conflict between remote contagiousness and the brains susceptibility to chemical changes, damage, and internal failure by taking the view that the brain is the conduit by which our consciousness is realized.

So if we want to use computers as a metaphor your consciousness is the software, and your brain and body is the hardware. If your HDD is corrupted you lose your memories, if your CPU is damaged your logic is faulty, etc.. Where the metaphor breaks might break down is that your OS, that intangible something that makes you -- you is remote, somewhere else. Or maybe you just have a copy.

Maybe there's a conflict in the idea that a consciousness requires a vessel of some form to exist in our universe but I don't see it.

I do admit that this presents a very very weak form of consciousness since it's immutable, static, and almost all of much of what informs your identity is local but that seems to mirror the human experience, right?

> there's an aspect of human consciousness that remains immutable under all internal brain malfunctions ...

Since we only get to access consciousness through these malfunctioning peripherals, how would you know if there was?