Steph, it's hilarious that that's what you linked to, because I was literally just googling "etiology" in another context.

I'm stalking you through the interwebz!

I'm stalking you through the interwebz!

Yikes!

I'm stalking you through the interwebz!

Yikes!

Yeah, but on etiology sites, so it's pretty geeky.

OH! I just remembered, I meant to post yesterday - There was a guy eating sushi on the subway yesterday. Usually if people are eating it's like muffins/bagels chips/things you can reach into a bag and eat one at a time whatnot , or a totally different type of person stinking up the car with take out chinese in the big styrofoam containers or slurping on a messy sandwichy thing from a street vendor - but this was a guy mixing soy with wasasbi and eating with chopsticks and ?!!?!??!

Is it worse than other flus, or just more unexpected?

H1N1 is a new strain in humans and so it has the potential to be extremely virulent, which is common when a virus jumps between species.

A well-adapted virus will keep its host healthy enough to continue being a nice place for the virus to live so it can replicate and go on to infect others. So influenza (which is native in birds) won't make a bird very sick, but when a strain mutates and is suddenly able to infect humans, it has the potential to be extremely deadly because it's not really adapted to our species yet. (The common cold? Really really well adapted to humans. Ebola? Not.)

Influenza is worrying because (a) it mutates a LOT and (b) is extremely contagious and (c) doesn't really have a cure (most flu treatments are geared towards preventing a secondary bacterial pneumonial infection).

Fortunately, it's looking like H1N1 is not very virulent and will probably go away on its own.

On a side note, did you know that in the 1918 flu pandemic, the majority of fatalities were NOT from secondary bacterial pneumonia, but from an unusually violent immune reaction? (Hence the larger numbers of young people dying than in a "normal" pandemic - the people with the strongest immune systems had such a strong immune response to the virus that they basically exploded their own lungs with white blood cells. Fun fact!)

t /flu geek

[eta: And holy crap, I type slow. Teppy got there before me AND used big words like cytokine storm!]

I am going to keep smoking and not getting enough sleep until it goes away, just in case -- need to keep that immune system down!

I am going to keep smoking and not getting enough sleep until it goes away, just in case -- need to keep that immune system down!

And bacon! Don't forget to eat lots of bacon!

(Which I hear is the homeopathic remedy for swine flu.)

I will eat plenty of bacon, not to worry. I figure bacon and eggs is even better, because isn't there some bird issue here as well?

I figure bacon and eggs is even better, because isn't there some bird issue here as well?

You can never be too careful!

Bacon, eggs, and haggis, that way you are protected against swine, bird, and stomach flu!!

Jessica - insent.