So the chart of age and flu death usually looks like a U. Meanwhile, the chart of influenza deaths in 1918 looked like a crazy, badly drawn N. Around 20 percent of affected babies seemed to die, followed by a drop down to the standard less than 10 percent, followed by a spike in deaths beginning at age nineteen, and returning to normal levels by around middle age. By 1918, 35 percent of people dying from influenza were in their twenties. Apparently, the disease overstimulated healthy immune systems, turning them against the body.
