This text addresses the History of diseases from their uses and possibilities for History classes. Based on the understanding of diseases as objects of historical investigation, we seek to place them as important elements for the understanding of the social fabric and wider contexts. Thus, the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic is presented as one of the many possibilities for discussion in the classroom based on classic contents: First World War and First Republic in Brazil. The insertion of the discussion about diseases - epidemic or pandemic - contributes to a more complex view of socio-historical processes and allows the student to develop his capacity for analysis and criticism.
