I heard this somewhere else too. Also that it is seems not to hit certain age groups, or they get a milder version, because of natural immunity the next generation received from parents who were exposed to the 1918 flu, but I don't know how true it is.

How many 1918 swine flu survivors are alive today?
This seems like an odd story to me. Kinda irrelevant.
(not dis'n the OP ... just the story)

Pulmonary emboli and lesions were common in the 1918 flu groups- esp. due to secondary bacterial pneumonia- most died of a combo of viral and bacterial Acute Repiratory Distress syndrome (ARDS).

Many patients who have taken ill in this outbreak have similar pulmonary failure, as well as multi-organ failure- another hallmark of the 1918 strain.

Many in '18 thought they were dealing with a tropical disease (a hemorrhagic fever); plague (as many pts were cyantotic- no air to the lungs, and thus, turned blue or black at the extremities); and had petechiae (subcutaneous capillary breakage from illness, caughing, etc.- also a sign of hemorrhagic fevers).

It was not until after the pandemic that a viral casue was identified; hence the bacterial pneumonia strain that killed so many was named for influenza, though it was a flu virus that laid bare the lungs to bacterial secondary infection. The viral flu wiped out the lymphocytes that would patrol the respiratory epithelia, and pneumonia (which we all carry, but our bodies keep in check) ran rampant with nothing to stop it- thus the deaths were mostly ARDS.

If one catches H1N1 it would be wise t take antibiotics to prevent pneumonia if one is at risk for it- the virus can't be helped by antibiotics, obviously, but hopefully death can be prevented by preventing secondary bacterial pneumonia..

[edit on 13-7-2009 by CultureD]

How many 1918 swine flu survivors are alive today?
This seems like an odd story to me. Kinda irrelevant.


for me it isnt...

sry but i dont have any medical background by can they exract their anti biodics produced from their body as a vaccine?

[edit on 13-7-2009 by heineken]

Wow, those people would have to be over 90 by now though! How can you even tell if they have an immunity, are they actually testing on those people? Hopefully they just took samples to play with or something, since giving any flu to someone in their 90s would most likely be deadly...

Originally posted by FlyersFan
How many 1918 swine flu survivors are alive today?
This seems like an odd story to me. Kinda irrelevant.
(not dis'n the OP ... just the story)

That's people over 90 or so. I believe that figure is under 1% of the population in most first world nations.

That would normally be a population greatly at risk from a novel influenza. So it is relevant for educational purposes.