Question

At what point does a disease become an epidemic, endemic, or pandemic? What are the parameters that define each of these states of a disease's effect?

Do you agree that bird flu, HIV, or AIDS could be described as a series of epidemics? Why or why not?

Should we study epidemiology and disease control as a complement to the provision of healthcare services? Why or why not?

Disease control has evolved since the discoveries and achievements of these epidemiological pioneers— Hippocrates, John Snow, Pasteur, and Koch. Explain the impact of at least one major historical contribution on the current status of epidemiological practices. How can history potentially shape and impact our future work in public health and clinical medicine? Explain.

Answer 1

Epidemic is the spread of infectious diseases to a large number of people in a population within a short period of time.  Causes are increased stress, increase in the density of a vector species, a genetic changes in the pathogen reservoir or the introduction of an emerging pathogen to a host population.

Endemic infections are found within the population without external causative organisms. Endemic diseases are passed from human to human.

Pandemic is the spread of the infectious disease all over a large population like continents or the whole world. Epidemics that pass to a larger population is called pandemic.

Bird flu, HIV or AIDS are not epidemics, they are pandemic. For instance, HIV was first found in Africa and it was slowly spread to the United States and to other continents. Thus HIV is pandemic, that is the infectious disease is passed from one continent to another.