By : Neha Dhyani
Updated : May 11, 2022, 11:56
People live in an ocean of bacteria and viruses. These viruses and bacteria spread infectious diseases that can spread in multiple ways. At times the infectious diseases break the threshold and spread across the country or can have a global impact.
This spread of infectious diseases is classified using terminologies like pandemic, endemic, and epidemic. Epidemic refers to a condition where a disease affects many people at one time and spreads from person to person in places where it is not common. An epidemic can turn into a pandemic if not contained.
It is also important to understand the Difference Between Pandemic and Endemic for categorizing infectious diseases.
As our world faces one of the most detrimental pandemics of COVID-19, many people are intrigued to Know the Difference Between Pandemic and Endemic. The pandemic caused by the COVID-19 virus claimed several lives around the world, and several new variants are now causing diseases at different rates.
Let's understand the Difference Between Pandemic and Endemic.
There are a number of differences between a pandemic and an endemic with respect to region, extent, and number of deaths. A pandemic is a kind of epidemic where the infectious disease gets spread to a large area like a country, continent, or the entire world.
The World Health Organization (WHO) defines a pandemic as the spread of a new infectious disease in the entire world. The number of infectious disease cases exponentially grows during a pandemic.
On the other hand, endemic is the outbreak of an infectious disease in a limited region that spreads at a limited rate.
The following table lists the major Differences Between Pandemic and Endemic -
Type of Outbreak | Pandemic | Endemic |
Definition | Disease outbreaks in a country, continent, or the entire world | Disease outbreaks in a specific region |
Permanency | The sudden outbreak which spreads globally | Found permanently present in a region or a population |
Derivation | Derived from Greek words pan means all and demos means people. | Derived from Greek words en means in and demos means people |
Rate of Spread | Rapid rate New cases appear every day | Constant rate Spread is stable and gets predictable over time |
Example | COVID-19 outbreak New Viral Strain | Caribbean Dengue Chickenpox in the UK Malaria in Africa |
Deaths | Can cause high numbers of death | Does not cause very high numbers of death |
Consequences | Social disruption Economic Loss | Cases in communities Individual and family suffering |
Contact with Wild Animals | Hunting and eating wild animals can lead to the spread of viruses from the wild animals | No such connection is observed |
Prediction of Spread | Difficult to predict | Spread can be predicted over time |
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An endemic disease can become a pandemic or epidemic and vice versa. For example, cholera was an illness that was caused by ingestion of food or water contaminated with the bacteria, Vibrio cholera. The disease originated in India, but the outbreak spread globally. In several regions, cholera is now endemic. The terms epidemic, pandemic, and endemic are used by scientists worldwide to categorize the spread of infectious diseases.
The basic Difference Between Pandemic and Endemic is that the infectious disease spreads across countries, continents, and the entire world in a pandemic. On the other hand, the disease is spread only within one region and is endemic.
Yes, there is a Difference Between Pandemic and Endemic with respect to the extent of disease spread. In a pandemic, the disease spreads across countries, continents, and around the world. In an endemic, the disease spreads within a region.
The Difference Between Pandemic and Endemic in terms of the number of deaths is that the deaths in a pandemic are higher in numbers compared to disease spread in an endemic.
Yes. There is a Difference Between Pandemic and Endemic with reference to consequences that people or nations have to deal with. The consequences of a pandemic can be seen at a global level with economic disruptions, while the endemic affects the individuals and their families or the people in the region.
The Main Difference Between Pandemic and Endemic is that the pandemic outbreak is sudden and can spread across countries, continents, and the world, while an endemic outbreak only spreads in a specific region and can become predictable over time. An endemic can turn into a pandemic if not monitored or contained.