How does someone actually die from the flu?
In: Biology
It depends. In some cases, the immune system’s response can be too strong and result in other problems. Our immune system isn’t very smart, and sometimes can cause more harm than good. For example, if the lungs are infected by flu virus, the body’s immune response is to inflame the lungs to try to kill the infection – and that can kill some healthy lung tissue as well. Especially in people who already have underlying issues, that sort of damage can end up being fatal. The human body is sort of “shoot first, ask questions later” when it comes to dealing with invaders, and sometimes that works out badly – hell, sometimes the immune system can harm tissues that aren’t even in the affected area, just because it goes into overdrive.
In other cases, it’s not the flu directly that kills a person, but it weakens their immune system enough that another infection can come in and finish the job. Like a burglar leaving the back door open and letting in a murderer – while your body’s exhausting itself fighting off the flu virus, something else comes in and infects the body, causing its own damage, exhausting the body’s resources, and resulting in death from secondary infection. This is often what kills younger people without underlying conditions that make them more vulnerable – they just had bad luck and got overwhelmed with infections.
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