Monday, 1 April 2013

immunology - Why do people dying of immune deficiency diseases appear sick?

Please forgive the obviously silly appearance of this question, and/or of the tenor which may come across as flippant or dismissive of real world suffering. My intention is none of the above.



As a layperson, I have always understood that the expression of our various colds/flus etc, while frequently mis-understood as being caused by the virus, are actually just manifestations of our own immunity fighting same. In other words, all the snot, and fever and inflammation are not caused *by the virus, they are a reaction *to the virus, as we fight it off.



My question then is why do people with AIDS (or similar immunity destroying affliction) appear sick? If they have weak or non-existent immune systems, following the above logic, would one expect to see them passing away while looking entirely healthy?

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