Why Is The Avian Flu Virus So Deadly?
How does the avian flu virus kill you? Very unpleasantly. Though actually the bird flu virus doesn’t kill you – your own immune system kills you. With normal flu, the virus gets into your lungs and your immune system generates killer cells which knock out the virus and you get better. Avian flu viruses are different. First they get deeper into the lungs. Then they trigger your immune system into overdrive, so much so that the killer cells attack your own health lung tissue. The lung tissue becomes inflamed, tiny blood vessels get damaged and start to leak, your lungs fill with fluid and you drown in your own blood. I don’t know about you, but this scares the **** out of me. Paradoxically, if your immune system isn’t up to much, e.g. because you’re old, it can’t generate so many killer cells and you stand a better chance of survival. If you’re 25 – at your immune system’s peak – the news ain’t good. That’s why bird flu pandemics kill fit young adults. Normal flu kills those with weak im
