Spanish flu in Italy: new data, new questions

This paper proposes a new estimate for the number of victims of Spanish flu in Italy and highlights some aspects of mortality closely linked to the First World War. The sources used are official death statistics and the Albo d'oro, a roll of honor of the Italians fallen in the First World War. The new estimate of deaths from the flu is 410,000 for 1918, which should be raised to 466,000 when the numbers are taken up to 1920. Deaths from Spanish flu among the military were about 70,000. The time sequence of deaths recognizes two distinct peaks, one in October and one in November 1918. Between these two peaks, the lowest number of deaths falls in the week of the armistice between Italy and Austria-Hungary (signed 4 November 1918). This suggests links between Spanish flu and WWI that cannot be merely explained in terms of movement of people and contagion.