--- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, "authfriend" <jst...@...> wrote: > > --- In FairfieldLife@yahoogroups.com, TurquoiseB <no_reply@> wrote: > <snip> > > I keep track of these things because I've had > > respiratory problems in the past and like to > > "Be Prepared." Also, even though my father as > > an infant survived the flu that killed both > > his parents, I'm not convinced I inherited > > his hardy genes, so I like to have a "fallback > > position." > > Actually, the thing about the 1918 pandemic--which > is also being seen in Mexico--is that it tended to > kill vigorous, healthy adults, while very young > children and older people were more likely to survive > it. This is the reverse of what happens with the > seasonal flu and is a sign that the population has > no immunity to it, that it's a novel pathogen. That's > why it's so potentially dangerous. > > The theory is that in people with vigorous immune > systems, a novel pathogen triggers a massive, > ferocious immune reaction that not only kills the > pathogen but creates an out-of-control inflammatory > response so intense that it kills the sick person > as well. > > Google "cytokine storm" for the details. > > In any case, young children whose immune systems > aren't yet fully developed and older people whose > immune systems have declined tend not to have this > kind of response and are therefore more likely to > recover. The role genes play in any of this is > uncertain. > > In Mexico, all the confirmed flu deaths so far > have been in people aged 25 to 50. There could > be other factors than cytokine storm involved, > however. We just don't know enough of the specifics > yet. In the U.S., all the known current cases of the > swine flu have been relatively mild, and we don't > know why. >
I'm wondering if anyone has done correlation studies between swine flu fatality and TB in Mexico... Lawson
