Abstract
This article investigates the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic in Coimbra using information found in the pages of a local newspaper. Rigorous and systematic analysis of the Gazeta de Coimbra reveals the urban bourgeoisie's perception of this health disaster, considered the most severe in the twentieth century. Guided by the newspaper's editor though an unofficial view of the facts, the reader can glimpse reactions to the first news of the epidemic, particularly the population's fears related to this information, but also the response from authorities and civil society. The newspaper is critical in many aspects, openly censuring inaction by several institutions of the city such as the city council, the medical school at the University of Coimbra, and the Misericórdia charitable institution.
Highlights
It is considered the largest health disaster of the twentieth century, for several decades the 1918-1919 flu epidemic was forgotten by the historiography and only the target of brief references in general texts
Over the last two decades research on this topic has blossomed in different areas, reinforcing the growing interest within the international scientific community
The hypothesis most favored by the scientific community is that it emerged at Camp Funston, located on the Fort Riley military base in the American state of Kansas; given the intense mobility of the military during World War I, the virus is thought to have arrived in France between April and May 1918
Summary
Coimbra’s response to the 1918-1919 influenza epidemic, seen from the viewpoint of a local newspaper. Ciências, Saúde – Manguinhos, Rio de Janeiro, v.25, n.3, jul.-set.
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