What is a Pandemic?

A pandemic can be defined as “an outbreak of a disease that occurs on a global scale, affecting populations across multiple countries, continents, or even worldwide”. A pandemic can be simply called as worldwide spread of a new disease or a larger version of an epidemic. It occurs usually when an epidemic goes out of control. So, basically, a pandemic begins as an epidemic.

Characteristics of the Pandemic are:

• Pandemics spread worldwide.
• In a pandemic, the disease-causing agent sustains its transmission within human populations for an extended period.
• Pandemics are typically associated with a high number of cases and usually have social, economic, and public health consequences.
• A pandemic requires a coordinated, global response involving all national and international organizations.
• The factors contributing pandemic are similar to those of the epidemic.

Examples of Pandemic

Some of the most common examples of the pandemic are;

1. COVID-19 infection
2. Spanish flu
3. HIV-AIDS infection
4. Swine flu
5. Cholera
6. Bubonic plague infection

Difference between epidemic and pandemic helps us to understand various aspects of the two terms used for epidemiology. The difference between epidemic and pandemic describes the spread of diseases, particularly infectious diseases, on a global scale. While both terms refer to the occurrence and spread of diseases, they differ in several key ways that are listed in the difference between epidemic and pandemic.