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In the 1400s,
doctors were so
fearful of diseases such
as the flu that they wore
protective clothing while
treating patients, including
a beak-like mask,
shown left.

The Story of the Flu

In the past, doctors came up with many different explanations for how the flu came
about. In the 1300s, people in Florence, Italy, explained an outbreak of the flu as
influenza di freddo, which translates to “influenced by the cold.” Then in 1414, when

an epidemic in France affected 100,000 people in the capital city, Paris, doctors
there believed a smelly and cold wind caused people’s flu symptoms. By the 1700s,
the word “influenza” was commonly used to describe the disease. However, at the
time, people believed cold air caused the illness.
“

There was a little girl, and she had a little bird,
And she called it by the pretty name of Enza;
But one day it flew away but it didn’t go to stay,
For when she raised the window, in-flu-Enza.

” 5 5
Childhood chant from 1918