foodconsumer.org: Cytokine storms chief concern in current flu pandemic

Cytokine storms chief concern in current flu pandemic
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admin on 05/17/2009 15:36:00
 
Sunday May 17, 2009 (foodconsumer.org) -- At this point, there are over 4000
cases of the swine flu in the United States. In just two weeks, the virus has
spread into 47 states; we are certainly in the midst of a pandemic.
What is unsettling about the swine flu we are now seeing is that relatively
young, able-bodied adults with healthy immune systems seem to be particularly
vulnerable. In this regard, this particular flu mimics the Spanish flu of 1918,
which covered the entire globe and left at least 20 million people dead in its
wake.
Researchers believe that this phenomenon is occurring because of a fierce,
biological reaction that occurs when the body is subjected to a virulent illness
that it has no immunity to: a cytokine storm.
The viciousness of the illness causes the human immune system to
“overreact,” releasing too many antibodies to fight off the illness at once.
According to the website cytokinestorm.com, 150 inflammatory “mediators” are
simultaneously released; the violent “dance” of these go-betweens causes a
super infection of sorts. Normally, a person’s body will control the cytokine
loop; in the case of the Spanish flu, such a reigning in did not take place.
In 1918, young, healthy adults typically died a mere 24 hours after coming down
with the first symptoms of the illness; many of them drowned in their own body
fluids. Some hemorrhaged to death as the cytokine storm destroyed the lining of
the intestines.
The pandemic of 1918 caused panic among the masses, as well it should have. Even
young children were aware of the seriousness of the illness, as is obvious by
the following nursery rhyme: “I had a little bird, its name was Enza; I opened
up my window and ‘in-flew-Enza’”.
During the throes of the epidemic, doctors tried everything, including some
unorthodox regimens, to reign in the deadly strain (and at that time, it was
unknown that influenza was a viral borne illness), even resorting to
“bleeding” out those afflicted with it. Some tried using hydrogen peroxide
IVs, which not only did nothing to diminish the illness, it actually caused
fatalities. According to the New York Times, one doctor injected a concoction of
blister fluid, morphine, caffeine, and strychnine into patients, while some
injected the typhoid vaccine (which stimulates immune reactions) into their
dying wards.
While much has been learned since 1918, cytokine storms remain somewhat of an
enigma to medical professionals. Unfortunately, however, they remain the chief
concern of the current pandemic.
(By Rachel Stockton, and edited by Heather Kelley)