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Pandemic

According to the World Health Organization, a pandemic often occurs when a new disease emerges; it affects humans, causing serious illness; and it spreads easily and quickly from person to person. A disease or condition is not a pandemic specifically because it kills a large number of people.

 

Pandemic: An Overview

A pandemic is an infectious disease affecting the majority of the population of a large region. When people think of a pandemic, they may think of previous flu pandemics, such as the 1918 flu (also known as "Spanish flu") or the Hong Kong flu of 1968-1969. A pandemic can also be defined as an infectious disease that is an epidemic at the same time in many parts of the world.
 

Conditions of a Pandemic

According to the World Health Organization, a pandemic can start when three conditions have been met. The three conditions are:
 
  • The emergence of a disease new to the population
  • The agent infects humans, causing serious illness
  • The agent spreads easily and sustainably among humans.
 
A disease or condition is not a pandemic specifically because it kills a large number of people. For example, cancer is responsible for a large number of deaths. But the deaths and disabilities due to cancer are not considered a pandemic because the condition is not infectious.
 
(Click Pandemic Flu for more information about a specific pandemic.)
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Written by/reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD
Last reviewed by: Arthur Schoenstadt, MD