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Why flu can be fatal?

Wednesday, June 9th, 2010

fluWhy the flu causes a simple runny nose in some people and others can be severe and even fatal? The key is the virus’s ability to paralyze the immune system, according to a study at Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia (USA) issued in the latest issue of the Journal of Leukocyte Biology.

In reaching this conclusion Kathleen Sullivan and his team recruited a group of children with severe influenza and analyzed the levels of cytokines, compounds secreted by cells of the immune system that act as messengers to recruit other cells to help defend the body occurs when an infection.

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