ABSTRACT
Influenza viruses cause a human disease that most likely appeared in nature as a result of the transfer of virus among humans and domesticated animals 6,000 years ago. One of the most devastating influenza pandemics is the 1918–20, which killed approximately 50 million people worldwide. Argentina had experienced previous epidemics. In 1871, Buenos Aires was hit by the yellow fever epidemic which took the lives of approximately 14,000 people. The Argentine Governmental response to the pandemic started at first in early October 1918 with a calming message suggesting that this illness was lethal in a post-war starving context such as Europe or in countries with poor sanitary infrastructure such as Brazil,8 but not in Argentina. Quickly the initial denial in the responses to the epidemic switched into very strict rules and a less soothing official narrative.
