The Spanish flu in the death registers of the St. Sulpitius parish

According to the parish's death records, 109 parishioners died in 1918, which meant an excess mortality of about 38 people. This high figure was caused by the Spanish flu. The rapid spread of the flu probably had to do with "movement of people." But actually, the common man could not be very mobile in that war period. However, there were troop movements that mainly went to the front at the beginning of that year. After the armistice, hundreds of thousands of soldiers moved from west to east. Another possibility was the movement of refugees from the north of France. During the offensive of both the Germans in the spring and that of the Allies in the following summer, northern France was evacuated. In the region of Diest, many refugees from Cambrai passed through on their way to the Netherlands. What we then see is a large mortality of French people in Aarschot, Diest, Scherpenheuvel and Tienen, places where these refugees were received.

Jan Rymenams