Therapeutic remedies and medical propaganda on influenza in mexico in 1918: Ideas and knowledge sets

Abstract

This article explores medical thought on the impact of the influenza pandemic of 1918 in Mexico. It analyzes scientific ideas on the etiology of the flu, as reflected in the types of remedies and medical prescriptions published in the press and in health bulletins. It then goes deeper into the topic by examining the international historic context, dominated by the war. In Mexico, years of armed conflict unleashed by the Revolution exacerbated living conditions among the population: starvation, typhus, smallpox and other infectious diseases were present before and during the outbreak of the pandemic. This study is based on archival documentation, health bulletins, press sources from the period, and modern bibliography.