The downside to being a biologist (biomedical / infection biologist specifically) is your friends come to you for medical advice. 9/10 times I'm comfortable answering them - I feel I'm good at calming people down from panicking they've a serious illness and can give them a realistic picture of what they could potentionally be up against before they have the opportunity to speak to their GP. But that 1/10 time you know you can only give bad news is awful. And you need to hear it from your doctor first; not from me.