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In the flu pandemic of 1918, the group it was most dangerous for was the inversion of covid (and normal flu): healthy young people. Our best guess for why this
by xxpor 5y ago
In the flu pandemic of 1918, the group it was most dangerous for was the inversion of covid (and normal flu): healthy young people. Our best guess for why this is is that was because it caused a cytokine storm, which is basically an autoimmune response where the body ends up killing itself because the immune system goes way overboard.
Unfortunately while the general idea of cytokine storms had been floating around for quite a while, it wasn't named until 1993, and wasn't really studied as its own thing until 2002/2003. No chance they would have been able to do anything about it in 1918.
- nielsbot 5y agoI read recently this might be linked to people who were exposed to the 1889 flu pandemic. https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-did-1918-flu-kill-so-many-otherwise-healthy-young-adults-180967178/ https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/why-did-1918-flu-kill...
- nradov 5y agoMaybe, maybe not. There is growing evidence that the 1889 pandemic wasn't caused by influenza at all but rather by another coronavirus. https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-magazine/qa-why-history-suggests-covid-19-here-stay https://ec.europa.eu/research-and-innovation/en/horizon-maga...