An epidemic is when a disease spreads rapidly and suddenly for a relatively short period of time. This is different from endemic because it is generally unexpected and unpredictable. Epidemics of disease can spread and cause huge amounts of death and suffering in a very short period of time – the recent outbreaks of H1N1 Swine Flu and Avian flu in past years have spread fear that a major epidemic could be on the horizon.
Posts Tagged ‘epidemic’
An Epidemic is…
Thursday, October 29th, 2009Endemic is…
Thursday, October 29th, 2009Endemic is a term used by health workers and organizations to describe a disease, disorder, or other issue that exists at a pretty constant rate for a long period of time within a population. Diseases that are endemic to given regions can result in a consistently high number of deaths year after year.