Via the Globe and Mail, an excellent article by Lisa Priest and Caroline Alphonso: As toll mounts, researchers peer into the H1N1 death spiral. Excerpt:
It’s a fatal irony: A robust immune system can be hazardous to your health. In some cases, it’s the reaction to the flu – more so than the virus itself – that sets off the death spiral.
So far, 309 people have died across Canada since the pandemic began in the spring, and roughly one-third had no underlying health conditions. That challenges the collective memory of a population that had never seen an influenza strike down people in their salad days. And it is reminiscent of 1918, when upward of 50 million worldwide died from the Spanish flu, many believed caught in cytokine storms.
This year, even as polls show public concern over H1N1 is levelling off, there has been a sharp spike in H1N1 fatalities nationwide, with 208 new deaths reported since Nov. 3.
And interviews with intensive-care specialists and microbiologists reveal many Canadian casualties experienced one or more of the following: viral pneumonia, a devastating secondary bacterial infection, or a cytokine storm. These conditions can strike together, to deadly effect.
