That's part of it. But, they are also seeing normally healthy people suddenly becoming critically ill.
Some of those may be a reprise of what happened with the "Spanish Flu" in 1918: most of the fatalities in the US were age 20-40. Researchers believe it may have been caused by what is now called a "cykotine storm": where a normal immune system overreacts and drowns the victim with their own fluids in their lungs.
Children hadn't fully developed their immune systems, and older people either had weakened immune systems or latent immunity from something similar that pre-dated the young adults.
The reason the spanish flu killed younger people is because it had a weaker run earlier in the season and older weaker people contracted it, survived, and built a natural immunity to the stronger coming virus. But the main reason it was so bad was WWI had everyone starving and trench warfare is a hyper breeding ground for the virus, then all the soldiers come home and spread it to their respective countries.
Yes, it was the second wave that was contrary to most flu epidemics. The current theory is that people in the trenches with a mild case stayed put, while the severe cases were sent to field hospitals, where it was spread further.
But, I was referring to why normally healthy people were vulnerable. The "cytokine storm" theory was developed relatively recently, after researchers transfected animals with the virus from frozen victims, and they suffered rapid progressive respiratory failure.
I can't find the article now, but yesterday I read one that reported some of the younger patients in Italy fit this model.
That's part of it. But, they are also seeing normally healthy people suddenly becoming critically ill.
Some of those may be a reprise of what happened with the "Spanish Flu" in 1918: most of the fatalities in the US were age 20-40. Researchers believe it may have been caused by what is now called a "cykotine storm": where a normal immune system overreacts and drowns the victim with their own fluids in their lungs.
Children hadn't fully developed their immune systems, and older people either had weakened immune systems or latent immunity from something similar that pre-dated the young adults.
The reason the spanish flu killed younger people is because it had a weaker run earlier in the season and older weaker people contracted it, survived, and built a natural immunity to the stronger coming virus. But the main reason it was so bad was WWI had everyone starving and trench warfare is a hyper breeding ground for the virus, then all the soldiers come home and spread it to their respective countries.
Yes, it was the second wave that was contrary to most flu epidemics. The current theory is that people in the trenches with a mild case stayed put, while the severe cases were sent to field hospitals, where it was spread further.
But, I was referring to why normally healthy people were vulnerable. The "cytokine storm" theory was developed relatively recently, after researchers transfected animals with the virus from frozen victims, and they suffered rapid progressive respiratory failure.
I can't find the article now, but yesterday I read one that reported some of the younger patients in Italy fit this model.