Bird Flu

[Supernick]

If you catch bird flu and you're an otherwise healthy young adult, how long does it take to kill you, and what are the symptoms as you progress through the illness?

[kaktus]

It probably won't kill you. As I understand it you'll have something like the common flu and the symptoms are those of the common flu. The ones in danger of dying of the bird flu is very young children and elderly weak people. I'm not saying that a healthy person can't die from bird flu, but it is not very likely to happen

 

As always wikipedia have some information on this flu strain 

[BUNNY]

I work in hospital labs and the infection control doctors and nurses i work with were send on a day long course about this almost a year ago.They reported back that those most vulnerable to the disease are expected to be young healthy adults,not children and the elderly.Scary indeed.

[kaktus]

Is that the most likely to catch it or those most like to die from it, if say a baby, a 20 year old and a 90 year old got it?

[Hermia]

The 'flu that killed tons of people in 1918-19 mostly killed young, healthy people and apparantly no one is sure why.

[qapmoc]

Hi, The reason that the Spanish Flu in 1918 (actually of chinese origin by the way!!!) is that the most healthy persons immune systems reacted the most to the virus and secreted fluids against it but in fact they died of drowning as their lungs filled with fluids,  presumably the very young and the very old reacted less and have more chance to survive.  The old books relate that from first symptoms to death was on average two days.   The custom of saying BLESS YOU when somebody sneezes come from this time,  if somebody you knew started to sneeze you assumed they would be dead soon and blessed them in case you did not see them again.     

[PringlesQueen]

Look on the Health Protection Agency website and search avian flu.
You will find all of your answers there.