A medical examiner in 1918 is performing an autopsy on a deceased soldier. This soldier contracted the Spanish flu, and when the examiner looks at the lungs of the soldier, he notices that these organs demonstrate extensive scarring and damage. This damage is likely the result of which of the following?
When the immune system detects a viral pathogen, it launches an immune response. The damage in the soldier's lungs is actually the result of an immune response (meant to eradicate the virus).