[steve86]

So as for the current bird flu, "I am less concerned about all this business than others because I think the N1 immunity that everyone in this population has now ... may well mitigate the effects," he said.

That's just rose-colored speculation, right? In any event, it hasn't much mitigated the effect on those thus far infected.

[tatown]

"That's just rose-colored speculation, right?"

Considering that Dr. Edwin Kilbourne is an emeritus professor of immunology at New York Medical College I would put a bit more credibility into his assessment than a random poster on FR.

"In any event, it hasn't much mitigated the effect on those thus far infected."

The point he's made, and apparently your missing, is that thousands may have already been infected with mild symptoms. If true, it paints a much different picture than what is being currently portrayed. Observational data from Turkey would certainly suggest a lower mortality rate than what the UN has advertised and it suggests that Kilbourne's hypothesis might be credible.