Dr. Zvonka Zupanič Slavec, Ph.D. med.: Spanish Flu, the most extremely epidemy in history

In 2018, one hundred years have passed, and humanity has been hit by the worst health catastrophe of all time, the Spanish flu pandemic. The disease has killed 3 to 5% of the world’s population in just a few months, more than it died in World War I (17 million). The Spanish flu ran wild for a whole year, from spring 1918 to spring 1919, circling the globe three times. The disease spread in three successive waves; in the spring of 1918 as the common flu, the second wave in the summer caused a terrible morass, and in the spring of 1919, it reappeared as the usual flu. The Spanish flu was unusual: the worst wave was the one that came in the summer and early fall of 1918, mostly young people dying. For most rapid deaths, pulmonary edem (flushing the lungs with asphyxiation) was fatal, with longer-lasting forms complicating pneumonia. High mortality was also a consequence of the war, which lasted for the fourth year, and the dire conditions in the military camps. Various figures suggest 20 to 100 million victims. About 60,000 people died in the Kingdom of SHS. Due to the war, flu was reported only in neutral Spain, after which the disease was named.

Prof. dr. dr. Zvonka Zupanič Slavec, Ph.D. med. is a full-time university professor, doctor of medicine, medical historian, medical humanist, head of the Institute for the History of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, University of Ljubljana. She graduated and received her doctorate from the Faculty of Medicine in Ljubljana, completing her studies in Vienna, London, Prague, Padua, Washington University in the USA and beyond. Her professional, scientific, research and publicity work span different fields of medical humanities, most of which deals with the history of Slovenian medicine of the 19th and 20th centuries. For a decade, she participated in the UNESCO Arts in Hospital project, which is committed to humanizing work in healthcare. She is a member or leader of several professional and scientific associations, organizer of professional meetings, winner of several awards and awards.