The difference between pandemic and epidemic is that “an epidemic is a disease or virus that spreads in a country or region, affecting a large number of people. Instead, a pandemic is the spread of an infectious agent between countries or countries, which may or may not result in high mortality.”
What is an Pandemic?
The term “pandemic” comes from the Greek word “pandêmon nosema”, which means disease that affects the entire population.
Prior to 2009, WHO considered a pandemic caused by concomitant infectious agents in several countries to have significant mortality relative to the proportion of the infected population.
The current concept eliminates the “lethality” feature, as many pandemic diseases are not necessarily fatal.
According to the WHO, for a pandemic to occur, a new virus must appear, so the population has no immunity against it.
- The virus can lead to severe cases.
- The virus has the ability to spread effectively from person to person.
What is an Epidemic?
An epidemic is a disease that spreads over a period of time in a country and affects a large number of people.
An infection is considered an epidemic when it exceeds the estimated number of cases in a given period.
An endemic can become an epidemic if it exceeds the expected cases, meaning that if a disease is considered eradicated (endemic 0) and then a case occurs, it already becomes an epidemic.
Read Also: Difference Between Allergies And A Cold
What’s The Difference Between Pandemic And Epidemic?
Pandemic |
Epidemic |
| According to the World Health Organization (WHO), a pandemic is the global spread of a new disease. It is in fact a new virus from which no one has the means to protect themselves and which can be effectively transmitted from person to person. | An epidemic is a disease that spreads through a country and affects a large number of people. It corresponds to the growth of an endemic disease or the appearance of patients in whom the infection was considered absent. |
| The pandemic is usually caused by the appearance of new infectious viruses that have no history of infecting humans. | The epidemic spreads through a certain area, and the pandemic has no borders and can affect the world. |
In any case, when it comes to diseases, it is recommended to maintain the traditional distinction that an epidemic affects one country and a pandemic spreads to many countries.
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