Cien años después, recordando cómo BMJ y JAMA comunicaron la pandemia de gripe de 1918-1919

The flu pandemic that ravaged the planet in 1918-1919 is undoubtedly the most virulent and lethality mass disease event that the human species has raffled throughout history. The main objective of this research focused on evaluating from the published in the medical literature of two of the most important journals of the time, (BMJ) The British Medical Journal and (JAMA The Journal of the American Medical Association), the interpretation that from the medicine was made of this phenomenon and the response that in terms of diagnostic and therapeutic technology was given by doctors. It was found that the arsenal of knowledge, diagnosis and therapy of the time offered very few tools to address clinical management and curb contagion and mortality. However, the difficulties that the clinicians and health authorities of the time had to overcome were a solid incentive so that in a short time significant progress was made in the understanding and management of infectious diseases, particularly of viral etiology.