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  • A pandemic is a horrifying term

  • We're conditioned through movies books and history to know it means disease death and mass panic

  • I mean the word pandemic literally has the word 'panic' in it

  • But what exactly is one? How was it declared?

  • And what happens if there is a pandemic?

  • In order for a pandemic to occur

  • It needs to start with an outbreak

  • If we look at the disease Covid-19 the outbreak occurred in Wuhan, China

  • from the SARS CoV 2 virus

  • A viral outbreak requires a new virus that

  • Humans do not have immunity to that is able to infect humans

  • cause disease in humans and spread from human to human quite easily

  • If the disease spreads within an initial community or within a

  • Specific region or country it's known as an epidemic

  • Surprisingly for something to move from being an epidemic to a pandemic

  • It has nothing to do with the severity of the disease, but rather its geographic spread

  • The exact definition varies within organization to organization

  • But in general if a virus begins to spread across international borders and around the world

  • Only then is it considered a pandemic but it actually isn't that simple

  • If you contracted Covid-19 in China

  • But then went home to america and spread it to someone there

  • That doesn't count as crossing international borders

  • It becomes a pandemic when people start to get infected by people who have no traces to the infected countries or the

  • Initial epidemic center

  • An example of this is community spread when someone gets a disease, but the source of the infection is unknown

  • It might help for us to look at some historical pandemics. Some of these pandemics actually happened thousands of years ago

  • For example the Antonine plague

  • Which happened to the Roman Empire when troops returned home from the east

  • It's estimated that this pandemic killed five million people

  • Across Greece, Italy, Egypt, and modern-day Turkey

  • We don't exactly know what caused the pandemic but researchers think that it was smallpox

  • Then of course you have perhaps the most famous pandemic the Spanish flu in 1918

  • Which isn't actually named so because it started in Spain. It's believed that it may

  • have originated in an army camp in Kansas

  • Which was then brought over to Europe by troops

  • But it's named the Spanish flu because Spain a neutral country during World War one

  • Openly reported on its occurrence while other countries censored or tried to hide it. This time

  • 500 million people were infected and an estimated 50 to 100 million died

  • Which was more people than World War 1 killed

  • What was perhaps the scariest part was that it actually had a second wave in October

  • So the first wave affected people who were primarily elderly or really young or sick

  • But the second wave actually affected people between the ages of 20 to 40 severely. Interestingly

  • The war is often considered a contributing factor

  • Not only because troops were moving around the world with improved transportation and technology

  • But soldiers were actually more prone to getting the flu because of stress, malnourishment and chemical attacks

  • But just as fast as the Spanish flu hit its worst point it quickly died out

  • After the peak of the second wave in October places went from having thousands of deaths

  • To none. One theory suggests that the virus actually

  • Mutated away from its most lethal strains as people died out with those lethal strains

  • All that was left over was more mild versions

  • But now in our modern world when does a pandemic get

  • Officially declared? We look to agencies such as the Center for Disease Control and Prevention

  • The World Health Organization or the European Centre for Prevention and Disease Control to declare a pandemic

  • But different scientists, epidemiologists

  • Or collectives could technically declare one based on their own judgments

  • You may think this would be an easy decision

  • Once it acts like a pandemic call it a pandemic but

  • These viruses are hard to trace especially if the disease has a long incubation

  • Period or causes minor symptoms leaving diagnosis untraced.

  • There are other issues with claiming a pandemic as well

  • For example, the WHO came under a lot of scrutiny in 2009 when the H1N1 virus was declared a pandemic

  • This is because it led to some

  • Unnecessary panic and a lot of countries ended up spending

  • Money to develop a vaccine for the flu when it ended up being fairly mild and easy to contain

  • Official classification of a pandemic by institutions depends on a variety of factors

  • But surprisingly it's simply a label and actually has no legal implications. The WHO has declared

  • Covid-19 a public health emergency of international concern which in many ways is more important

  • It allows them to start making recommendations to member countries on how to handle the disease and also mobilize funding and political support

  • But when a pandemic is declared

  • It does mean the disease has spread to many countries around the world and that's significant

  • We obsess over the word because it holds power

  • Declaring a pandemic could cause unnecessary panic which has many downsides but, on the other hand

  • It could also allow the citizens of the world to mentally and

  • Physically prepare for the spread of the virus and disease and this might actually help with mitigation

  • There are pros and cons to the declaration of a pandemic but that brings us to the next question is what do you do when

  • Organizations start declaring a pandemic? First off you need to listen to healthcare professionals

  • They are on the front line of these situations and are prepared to work with epidemiologists,

  • Researchers, and scientists to effectively curb the disease. Be wary of unverified

  • exaggerations and disinformation online. Again

  • If one is declared nothing will legally change but naturally people will act accordingly

  • Hospitals around the world will become the front line of defense putting the sickest first

  • And postponing unnecessary surgeries and appointments

  • Hospitals will also be extremely busy

  • So households, businesses, and communities will also need to work

  • Independently to decrease spread. Social isolation will become more normal and mass gatherings will be canceled

  • We'll all have to get used to washing our hands

  • Effectively and all the time and learn to not

  • Touch our face. The world will get better at normalizing not greeting each other with a

  • Handshake a little elbow touch or just a little nod

  • How do you do? There will be an emotional reaction as we prepare to potentially care for sick family members

  • Which is actually a good mental exercise in order to keep our families safe and the hospitals less strained

  • Offices will need to make plans for when workers are sick or off to take care of their family members all while the world works

  • Together to make a vaccine and antiviral medication to help curb the disease. Of course

  • There's no use in unnecessary panic but declaring a pandemic is a useful way to have the

  • World come together and work together in containing the disease or virus

  • So what should you be doing personally?

  • Make sure you're listening to legitimate organizations like the CDC, WHO, and ECDC for up-to-date information and recommendations

  • It's possible that advice will change from day to day and staying up-to-date with accurate sources is the most important

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A pandemic is a horrifying term

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