CDC defines influenza as an epidemic disease. Even though it has been around for ages, and is never truly gone from the earth, it comes and goes in waves. COVID-19 will likely be similar.
Endemic illness stays at a constant level roughly.
I don’t think you can just decide to call something endemic at an arbitrary point in time… it has to show some characteristics of steady rate of disease.
I hope we don’t chose to allow COVID-19 to be at very high endemic levels, or have large epidemics. Would be better if it was sporadic outbreaks. Much safer.
In fact, even at high “endemic” levels there is evidence of epidemic outbreaks of different strains emerging and outcompeting each other…
Things endemic doesn’t mean…
Mild.
Everything will be alright.
You can’t control it.
Back to normal.
“This vision will be achieved progressively by countries eliminating malaria from their territories and implementing effective measures to prevent re-establishment of transmission.”
Sound familiar?
End TB strategy.
Endemic to many parts of the world, according to WHO, TB should be eliminated.
Each of these diseases is different, and needs different strategies.
TB is airborne slow, latent, hidden, has animal reservoirs. Vaccine partially effective.
Malaria, insect borne but no animal reservoir.
Chicken pox, airborne but vaccine susceptible.
We have not let “endemic” get in the way of planning disease control before, and despite difficulties, infectious disease specialists haven’t thrown the towel in before.
The word endemic has been used inappropriately to mean the public should stop harassing the government.
COVID-19 is still an epidemic disease in most countries.
It is a serious multi system disease, and requires control.
Declaring it “endemic” makes absolutely no difference to that.
If your government or medical officer is telling you that your country/region has endemic SARS… just say “Yes, and what is the plan to control it?”
Because that’s the normal response to a serious endemic disease.
I am so glad that I am not the only one that can see this.
Endemic COVID-19 is a mess.
Just because a disease is endemic, does not mean you can forget about controlling it. It will mess up the economy whether you like it or not.
You might be wondering how spraying healthy humans with a known pathogen that can cause long term disease or death can ever pass ethics.
->
The risk of the study is compared to the risks of not doing the study, and what the chances are that a person will be exposed to the same risks without doing the study.
As you might imagine, the chances of a person not being exposed to COVID in a country like the UK is very, very low…
Been googling. A smattering of case studies of kids with hypertension after having COVID… possibly transiently… and a huge Korean study where they talk about lockdowns and cardiometabolic risk factors… but then note that ->
“In the BMI-specific analysis, an increase in the prevalence was prominent in the normal BMI group.”
Every time I read those tweets about masks (respirators) not working I lose a brain cell.
Of course they work.
They’ve been used in industry for ages.
They’ve been used to provide care to patients with serious illnesses, protecting the HCW for ages…
These groups that tweet garbage about respirators not working… what do they propose? We just leave the sick to die without care cos we risk more than 50% chance of death if we go near them?
I’ve been working with dangerous diseases on and off my whole career. Dangerous chemicals and dusts too.
Complete nonsense to say masks don’t work. I would have had a MDRTB brain abscess ages ago if that were true.