5 ms·

It’s fascinating that we had the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics at the time, yet we don’t know to this day why the Spanish flu was so deadly. Anoth

It’s fascinating that we had the theory of relativity and quantum mechanics at the time, yet we don’t know to this day why the Spanish flu was so deadly. Another puzzling disease that appeared at that time and have disappeared since then was encephalitis lethargica: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis_lethargica https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Encephalitis_lethargica Some hypothesize that the two were in fact related.

sargare 9y ago
Some years ago I got the flu and two days later I became unconscious, went to a coma for five days. It took atleast six month for the hallucinations and the body aches to stop. Doctor said it was Viral Encephalitis. Worst days of my life, but still lucky to be alive.
- tzahola 9y ago
  Wow, encephalitis is no joke! You’re lucky to be alive. May I ask how old were you at the time?
  - sargare 9y ago
    I was 26 at that time.
- rubicon33 9y ago
  That's terrifying. Can I ask - how did you treat the flu once you knew you were infected? I got the flu this year. My symptoms were almost exclusively a fever. No significant aches. I gave myself 2-3 days of 102 fever. Taking no medication, but laying in bed, drinking water, and eating as much as I ibuprofen and the fever broke. I continued taking for the next day, and by the end of the 4th day, I felt fine. It's scary to think I may have just gotten lucky. I don't "know" what the right course of action is. I'd like to believe that letting your body fight the infection visa vi a fever is a good idea, assuming you're healthy enough to take that kind of physical stress. I don't know.
  - sargare 9y ago
    I was treated with Acyclovir for 2 weeks and Phenytoin as a prevention for seizures. After the treatment I had liver disease because of drug toxicity, but it got better over time.
    - tzahola 9y ago
      Acyclovir for influenza? Maybe your doctors thought it was a latent herpes infection activated by the influenza?
      - Alex3917 9y ago
        > Maybe your doctors thought it was a latent herpes infection activated by the influenza? More likely if he went to the doctor with aches and pains then it was prescribed on the theory that it might have been shingles.
      - andrewchambers 9y ago
        isn't that just a generic anti viral?
        tzahola 9y ago
        “Aciclovir is active against most species in the herpesvirus family. In descending order of activity:[39][40] Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) Herpes simplex virus type II (HSV-2) Varicella zoster virus (VZV) Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) Cytomegalovirus (CMV) – least activity” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aciclovir https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aciclovir
    - sargare 9y ago
      Maybe, but there was no mention of herpes anywhere in the doctor's report.
    - candiodari 9y ago
      The liver thing makes no sense. Unless perhaps you added more than an acceptable dose of pain medication to that, and feel no need to mention those. Take any ?
deleted 9y ago
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pvaldes 9y ago
> we don’t know to this day why the Spanish flu was so deadly. Because it caused a cytokine storm in the patient. People were killed by their own inmune system. The most healthy inmune system (young adults in prime condition), the worst. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm
- tzahola 9y ago
  Yeah, that's one of the hypotheses.

sargare 9y ago

Some years ago I got the flu and two days later I became unconscious, went to a coma for five days. It took atleast six month for the hallucinations and the body aches to stop. Doctor said it was Viral Encephalitis. Worst days of my life, but still lucky to be alive.

tzahola 9y ago
Wow, encephalitis is no joke! You’re lucky to be alive. May I ask how old were you at the time?
- sargare 9y ago
  I was 26 at that time.
rubicon33 9y ago
That's terrifying. Can I ask - how did you treat the flu once you knew you were infected? I got the flu this year. My symptoms were almost exclusively a fever. No significant aches. I gave myself 2-3 days of 102 fever. Taking no medication, but laying in bed, drinking water, and eating as much as I ibuprofen and the fever broke. I continued taking for the next day, and by the end of the 4th day, I felt fine. It's scary to think I may have just gotten lucky. I don't "know" what the right course of action is. I'd like to believe that letting your body fight the infection visa vi a fever is a good idea, assuming you're healthy enough to take that kind of physical stress. I don't know.
- sargare 9y ago
  I was treated with Acyclovir for 2 weeks and Phenytoin as a prevention for seizures. After the treatment I had liver disease because of drug toxicity, but it got better over time.
  - tzahola 9y ago
    Acyclovir for influenza? Maybe your doctors thought it was a latent herpes infection activated by the influenza?
    - Alex3917 9y ago
      > Maybe your doctors thought it was a latent herpes infection activated by the influenza? More likely if he went to the doctor with aches and pains then it was prescribed on the theory that it might have been shingles.
    - andrewchambers 9y ago
      isn't that just a generic anti viral?
      - tzahola 9y ago
        “Aciclovir is active against most species in the herpesvirus family. In descending order of activity:[39][40] Herpes simplex virus type I (HSV-1) Herpes simplex virus type II (HSV-2) Varicella zoster virus (VZV) Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) Cytomegalovirus (CMV) – least activity” https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aciclovir https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aciclovir
  - sargare 9y ago
    Maybe, but there was no mention of herpes anywhere in the doctor's report.
  - candiodari 9y ago
    The liver thing makes no sense. Unless perhaps you added more than an acceptable dose of pain medication to that, and feel no need to mention those. Take any ?

deleted 9y ago

[deleted]

pvaldes 9y ago

> we don’t know to this day why the Spanish flu was so deadly. Because it caused a cytokine storm in the patient. People were killed by their own inmune system. The most healthy inmune system (young adults in prime condition), the worst. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cytokine_storm

tzahola 9y ago
Yeah, that's one of the hypotheses.