Reply #38: Sure, there can be secondary bacterial infections, BUT [View All]

[NurseLefty]

pneumonia that results from a virus is caused by the virus PERIOD, and antibiotics can't do diddly squat for that!
All of the lamenting about the scares over the years: Count yourselves lucky, for two possible reasons: (1) either the virus was not virulent enough to cause a pandemic and/or (2)EFFECTIVE PUBLIC HEALTH MEASURES PREVENTED THE SPREAD.
Public health is sorely overlooked in these situations. Is is public health that implements programs to monitor disease (epidemiology), and informs/educates the public/coordinates w/ health care re: containments of infectious disease outbreak. It is the red-headed stepchild in government spending, in spite of the fact that it's fundmental to homeland security!
What is troubling about the avian flu - it mutates rapidly (thus immunization becomes instantly obsolete), and it has an existing history of being lethal in the humans it has infected.
Epidemiologists have said we have been long overdue for a pandemic of this type. If it happens, God help us all. If it doesn't, BE THANKFUL that nature or public health interventions have spared you!