News from Europe of a new epidemic, called the Spanish influenza or Spanish flu, began appearing in São Paulo city newspapers in June 1918. On 15 October, the State Sanitation Service confirmed the occurrence of the first cases in the city. From among the discussions on the nature of the disease and the various treatment proposals then brought forward, I highlight two suggested treatments: the recommendations approved by the São Paulo Academy of Medicine, and "mercurialization." In this effort to organize knowledge about the Spanish flu and, indirectly, to instruct the population at large, proposals and debates surrounding forms of treatment demonstrated both how medical-scientific discourse was developed and how it was growing ever more arcane to the general population.
Spanish flu; influenza; medical-scientific discourse; education; epidemic