A classic example of science fiction disease epidemiology.   According to Earth Abides (1949) by George R. Stewart (1895-1980) a disease comes out of nowhere, kills off all of the Earth's population save for a handful of survivors including, unfortunately, our hero, who is one of the most feckless characters ever to grace the pages of fantasy. 

Instead of rebuilding society or even setting up a halfway successful community, the tiny band of survivors get caught up in a collective fit of ennui and mope about for a generation or so while the cities collapse into the ground and their grandchildren end up on the cultural level of Cro-Magnons.  Things get so bad that the inheritors of our civilisation regard coins as being nothing but handy metal for making arrowheads out of.

Can't say I have much sympathy.  Evidently nobody even had the foresight to lift a few boxes of hunting arrowheads (never mind some black powder gear!) from the shops after the apocalypse.

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