A History of the 1918 Spanish In_uenza Pandemic and its Impact on Iran

Approximately ninety two years ago, the worst in_uenza pandemic or “Spanish _u” occurred in 1918, at the end of the First World War (WWI, 1914 – 1918) which resulted in the deaths of millions of people worldwide. The death toll exceeded the total number of victims of WWI. The 1918 Spanish _u was a deadly, major global event that affected many countries, including Iran. In Iran, it was accompanied by a high mortality rate estimated to be more than one million. However, detailed information on the impact of this outbreak in Iran is scarce. The present paper describes a brief history of the in_uenza pandemics in the world as well as the spread of the 1918 Spanish _u to Iran.