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Suggest Treatment For Symptoms Of Influenza

Posted on Thu, 8 Dec 2016

Question: Sometimes a medical condition will be the direct cause of death which itself has an underlying or antecedent cause which is an infection (whether vital or bacterial). Could you please give me three examples in which a particular cause of death is itself sometimes caused by an identified infection, that is, is known to have an underlying or antecedent cause that is an infection? I am mainly interested in relatively common viruses or bacteria, not very rare ones, e.g. ebola virus.

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (3 hours later)

Brief Answer:
you can check the complications of infections...

Detailed Answer:
Hello,

I'm not sure if I got the point of your question but here is my answer. If this is not what you were asking for, please explain in more detail.

A pretty common viral infection is influenza. Influenza may cause death particularly when complications occur:
(1) pneumonia. Pneumonia from influenza may be very serious and cause serious blood gas disorders, acidosis and death from arrhythmias.
(2) myocarditis. Myocarditis causes arrhythmias. Some of them can be fatal.
(3) multi-organ failure. In such a case the patient dies soon from arrhythmias again caused by the impaired internal environment of the body fluids.

I hope this is what you were looking for!
Kind Regards!

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar

Follow up: Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (23 hours later)

Thank You Dr. Zografakis. 1) Am I correct in interpreting you as saying that myocarditis is a virus or bacteria of some sort? 2) In the case of multi-organ failure, I am aware that sepsis can cause this if it is not effectively treated in time. However, are there any infections (relatively common ones) which do not involve sepsis but can cause multi organ failure? (3) Also, I understand that some types of meningitis can be fatal. Are there any potentially fatal forms forms that are actually caused by a particular virus or bacteria? I presume that meningitis is not itself an infection, although I am only guessing this. Don't worry! I definitely do not know anyone who has every had any form of meningitis. But I understand that it can be quite serious in some cases. Thank you for your help so far!

Answered by Dr. Panagiotis Zografakis (4 hours later)

Brief Answer:
1) No, 2) difficult to occur, 3) most cases are infectious

Detailed Answer:
You're welcome!

Regarding your first question, the answer is that myocarditis is an inflammation of the heart muscle. Most cases are caused by viruses and less commonly by bacteria or their toxins. So myocarditis is the actual condition. Viruses and bacteria are the causes of this condition.

(2) Multi-organ failure involves low blood pressure which is a criterion for sepsis also. So it's difficult to have multi-organ failure without sepsis during the course of an infection.

(3) Most cases of meningitis are viral or bacterial. There are some rare forms of meningitis caused by other conditions like hematologic malignancies for example but most are infectious.

Let me know if you need more information.

Kind Regards!

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Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar