Swine Flu Attacking Young People

It seems that the Swine Flu does more damage to people in their prime than those who are generally most affected by the flu virus. Rather than becoming most severe in the very old and the very young, the Swine flu is doing the most damage to those people who fall somewhere right in the midddle with the age range of those who have died or become seriously ill between 25 and 44 on average. Why is this happening?

This is actually a very rare event that has not been studied in depth. It is called a “cytokine storm” and was suspected as a cause for the flu of 1918 that killed 20 million and might even be attributed to the H5N1 virus. So what is a cytokine storm? Basically, a persons immune system overreacts to whatever virus has attempted to penetrate its defenses. This can cause organs to fail in a chain reaction. The lack of studies make it difficult for scientists to really understand the factors that lead to the body's reaction, however, the results are very evident. The body begins to attack itself, including healthy tissue. It is similar to what happens when an individual suffers an allergic reaction. Unfortunately, this reaction is deadly, and to date, no-one is sure how to stop it from occurring.