The epidemics of typhus and Spanish flue and their consequences on the population of Serbia

Abstract

During the First World War, Serbia was hit by two major epidemics: the typhus epidemic and the Spanish flu epidemic. The typhus epidemic, which is relatively well-known, spread throughout the first half of 1915. The Spanish flu, in its second and deadliest wave, affected the entire planet by the end of 1918, but it was not extensively studied in Serbia until recently. There was an opinion that, unlike other countries, Serbia was not heavily affected by it. The aim of this study is to answer the questions: Did the Spanish flu epidemic indeed have fewer consequences in Serbia compared to most European countries, and were its effects less severe than those of the typhus epidemic in 1915? Despite numerous studies, the exact number of victims of the typhus epidemic has not been determined, but an estimate has been accepted that this epidemic claimed the lives of around 100,000 civilian inhabitants of Serbia and 13,000 to 35,000 military conscripts. Research conducted in the last three years has indicated an estimation that the number of deaths in Serbia from the global pandemic was similar to the number of deaths from typhus. Considering that Serbia had a smaller population in 1918 compared to 1915, that number represented approximately 3% of the population at that time, making the Spanish flu more devastating than typhus. If it is taken into account that it is considered that 1.1% of the population in Europe suffered from the consequences of the pandemic, ranging from 0.4% in Britain to 1.4% to 2.3% in Italy, Spain, and Portugal, and up to 2.5% in Greece, Serbia was among the most threatened, if not the most threatened European countries by this pandemic.