[buccaneer81]

Isn't that a suspected reason for the death rate of the 1918 Spanish flu?

Yes. Much like this outbreak, the 1918 flu killed mostly the 20-45 age group.

[mamelukesabre]

So to defend against a flu epidemic, you could become an alcoholic and drink your immune system into hibernation?

[Verginius Rufus]

I had a third cousin who was about 19 at the time of the great flu epidemic. Both of his sisters died from it, a few days apart...one was 24 and the other 28. He also had several brothers but none of them died from the flu.