A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a disease that spreads across regions.
The word is most commonly used in the context of influenza.
But other diseases can and have been declared pandemics.1/n
The word is most commonly used in the context of influenza.
But other diseases can and have been declared pandemics.1/n
It’s important to know that calling a disease outbreak a pandemic doesn’t connote severity. It relates solely to the amount of ground the outbreak covers.2/n
There can be mild pandemics, such as the 2009 H1N1 flu pandemic.
At the opposite end was the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed between 50 to 100 million in 1918-1919.3/n
At the opposite end was the 1918 Spanish flu, which killed between 50 to 100 million in 1918-1919.3/n
There are four coronaviruses that are endemic in people, meaning they circulate in an ongoing manner. They mostly cause colds; they’re among the multitude of viruses that swarm around us during cold and flu season. (They’re known as OC43, NL63, 229E, and HKU1.)
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They were all formerly animal viruses which crossed over to infect people before the existence of viruses was recognized. As a result, there is no record of when they first started infecting people &whether they caused severe disease before settling down to common cold. 5/n
Two other animal coronaviruses have crossed into people in the past, SARS &MERS.SARS spread to a number of countries but the virus was snuffed out after 8,000 cases and 800 deaths.MERS, still jumps to people from camels.Neither is considered to have caused a pandemic. 6/n
The present Coronavirus has spread to 24 countries.Most of the cases are from China/people who had recently been to China.But countries are reporting cases of “secondary spread” that is,cases where a person who hadn’t traveled to China contracted the virus from someone who had7/n
Only the WHO can declare a pandemic.
The WHO was harshly criticized when the 2009 flu pandemic turned out to be less severe. Rather than feeling relieved, people felt aggrieved they’d been scared over something that was far less scary than expected.
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The WHO was harshly criticized when the 2009 flu pandemic turned out to be less severe. Rather than feeling relieved, people felt aggrieved they’d been scared over something that was far less scary than expected.
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Though this coronavirus isn’t related to influenza, it is acting a lot like a new flu virus. One of the characteristics of pandemic flu viruses is that they are able to circulate out of season; there are so many people susceptible that the virus can keep transmitting.9/n
Higher temperatures may slow, but probably won’t stop transmission of the new virus.
Thank you for reading .
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Thank you for reading .
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