Can a viral infection kill you on its "own". Or does it not kill you, but the secondary bacterial infection kills you.

I would say the , viral infection can kill you without the bacteria. But would like if anyone has time for a short detailed explain anger.

Thank you your time.
June,

8 minutes ago, Junethefirst said:

Can a viral infection kill you on its "own". Or does it not kill you, but the secondary bacterial infection kills you.

I would say the , viral infection can kill you without the bacteria. But would like if anyone has time for a short detailed explain anger.

Thank you your time.
June,

Yes of course a viral disease can kill you on its own. There are plenty of examples but perhaps the most dramatic is rabies, which is practically 100% fatal.

Edited May 4May 4 by exchemist

2 hours ago, exchemist said:

Yes of course a viral disease can kill you on its own. There are plenty of examples but perhaps the most dramatic is rabies, which is practically 100% fatal.

Hi.

Thank you,

And are these pure Virus and none bacterial please ???

The 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic that killed 20-40 million people
The ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has killed over 40.5 million people (as of 2023)
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 7 million people worldwide as of May 2024.

Many deaths associated with the flu and COVID-19 don’t occur at the hand of the virus alone. Instead, it’s a secondary bacterial infection that is often at the root of the devastating consequences attributed to an initial viral infection.

June

9 minutes ago, Junethefirst said:

Hi.

Thank you,

And are these pure Virus and none bacterial please ???

The 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic that killed 20-40 million people
The ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has killed over 40.5 million people (as of 2023)
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 7 million people worldwide as of May 2024.

Many deaths associated with the flu and COVID-19 don’t occur at the hand of the virus alone. Instead, it’s a secondary bacterial infection that is often at the root of the devastating consequences attributed to an initial viral infection.

June

Look up rabies.

34 minutes ago, Junethefirst said:

Many deaths associated with the flu and COVID-19 don’t occur at the hand of the virus alone. Instead, it’s a secondary bacterial infection that is often at the root of the devastating consequences attributed to an initial viral infection.

It’s kinda hard to isolate someone from other factors. One of the reasons for the fatalities is making you more susceptible to those other factors.

As exchemist suggests, rabies kills quickly. So does ebola.

Even it’s not just the virus, you’re still dead.

2 hours ago, Junethefirst said:

Hi.

Thank you,

And are these pure Virus and none bacterial please ???

The 1918-1919 Spanish flu pandemic that killed 20-40 million people
The ongoing HIV/AIDS pandemic, which has killed over 40.5 million people (as of 2023)
The COVID-19 pandemic, which has killed more than 7 million people worldwide as of May 2024.

Many deaths associated with the flu and COVID-19 don’t occur at the hand of the virus alone. Instead, it’s a secondary bacterial infection that is often at the root of the devastating consequences attributed to an initial viral infection.

June

If one is really philosophical about it, no one really dies from disease or even toxins. Typical causes of death are organ failure of some sort. The question then is why do they fail? And the answer is that the bacteria/viral infection cause shifts in the physiology that the body is not able to deal with.

Some of the lethality of respiratory viruses is caused by triggering your immune system in a way that does severe damage to your body (e.g. cytokine storms). While you could argue that this is just your body killing yourself, rather than the virus, as Swansont pointed out, none of it would have happened without the infection in the first place. Also, there is no fundamental difference with regard to bacterial or viral infection when it comes to lethality (though some mechanisms differ). For example, the cause of death by bacterial sepsis is again the initiation of widespread inflammatory responses causing a wide range of damages, including shock, which interupts blood flow to organs, that than causes death.

It is a bit like saying that a car accident does not kill you , but rather it is only due to deformation of your organs by a rapidly accelerating dashboard.

Also while I still think that the argument is heavily flawed for the mentioned reason, many viruses are not dependent on secondary infections to kill the host, though it can accelerate the process.

Rabies was already mentioned where severe inflammation causes brain damage, but even influenza and especially the delta variant can damage lungs by triggering severe inflammation in the lung. COVID-19 was also implicated in higher risk of severe blood clotting which can cause stroke and thrombosis related deaths. Many viruses like Hanta and Ebola damage endothelial cells and mess up the immune system resulting in far ranging damages such as liquid leakages in hearts and lungs and gut, respectively.

While not asked, I will note that some folks tried to diminish the impact of diseases like COVID-19 for political reasons and are often making arguments that try to simplify pathophysiology especially of COVID-19 (though I see similar arguments regarding influenza) to make it seem that they are in fact not that dangerous. A poor motivation for rather poor arguments.

Hi all,

Thank you so much for your comments. I do understand far more now.

June

2 hours ago, CharonY said:

While not asked, I will note that some folks tried to diminish the impact of diseases like COVID-19 for political reasons and are often making arguments that try to simplify pathophysiology especially of COVID-19 (though I see similar arguments regarding influenza) to make it seem that they are in fact not that dangerous. A poor motivation for rather poor arguments.

And measles.

Admittedly, I grew up at a time when pretty much every kid got measles, so I am also inclined to downplay the danger. But I have no issues with vaccination, so the measles I had as a child is no reason for the children of today not to get vaccinated.

Edited May 5May 5 by KJW

22 hours ago, Junethefirst said:

Can a viral infection kill you on its "own". Or does it not kill you, but the secondary bacterial infection kills you.

I would say the , viral infection can kill you without the bacteria. But would like if anyone has time for a short detailed explain anger.

Thank you your time.
June,

What are the factors, are you unvaccinated or vaccinated? What is your immune health? Basic stuff like that, make sure to include it so I can give the best answer possible.

22 hours ago, exchemist said:

There are plenty of examples but perhaps the most dramatic is rabies, which is practically 100% fatal.

Unless treated in early stages. Rabies can be prevented almost entirely with post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP).

22 hours ago, Junethefirst said:

Can a viral infection kill you on its "own". Or does it not kill you, but the secondary bacterial infection kills you.

I would say the , viral infection can kill you without the bacteria. But would like if anyone has time for a short detailed explain anger.

Thank you your time.
June,

What virus is it?

16 hours ago, CharonY said:

While not asked, I will note that some folks tried to diminish the impact of diseases like COVID-19 for political reasons and are often making arguments that try to simplify pathophysiology especially of COVID-19 (though I see similar arguments regarding influenza) to make it seem that they are in fact not that dangerous. A poor motivation for rather poor arguments.

Are they alive to say it now 😁

37 minutes ago, Sohan Lalwani said:

What are the factors, are you unvaccinated or vaccinated? What is your immune health? Basic stuff like that, make sure to include it so I can give the best answer possible.

Question: do you have any kind of background expertise? We don't give out medical advice here.

38 minutes ago, Sohan Lalwani said:

Unless treated in early stages. Rabies can be prevented almost entirely with post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)

This phrasing doesn't make a lot of sense.

13 minutes ago, CharonY said:

Question: do you have any kind of background expertise? We don't give out medical advice here.

I am not giving medical advice, I am asking more information regarding the scenario as the question itself is very vague.

13 minutes ago, CharonY said:

This phrasing doesn't make a lot of sense.

I think it does, lets not argue about useless things like this. Return to the main topic.

1 minute ago, Sohan Lalwani said:

I think it does, lets not argue about useless things like this. Return to the main topic.

Why did you suggest that prophylaxis don't work if treated in early stages, especially as PEP is the primary treatment.

1 minute ago, CharonY said:

Why did you suggest that prophylaxis don't work if treated in early stages, especially as PEP is the primary treatment.

I said it does? Hence why "Unless treated in early stages. Rabies can be prevented almost entirely with post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP)"

So what happens if you treat it in early stages then? Note that "unless" is a negation.

1 hour ago, Sohan Lalwani said:

What are the factors, are you unvaccinated or vaccinated? What is your immune health? Basic stuff like that, make sure to include it so I can give the best answer possible.

I should also add that none of these parameters are pertinent to the question asked in OP, which appear to be more fundamental.

6 minutes ago, CharonY said:

So what happens if you treat it in early stages then? Note that "unless" is a negation.

I should also add that none of these parameters are pertinent to the question asked in OP, which appear to be more fundamental.

It would be helpful to know precisely what I am dealing with to give the best possible answer.