It's now official. Corona virus infections have reached the level of a pandemic, according to the World Health Organization (WHO), despite efforts by some government officials to talk down the intensity or the importance of the health dangers. The upper respiratory infection caused by the virus has now reached every continent (except Antarctica) and continues to grow.
But what is a pandemic, anyway, and how does it differ from an epidemic? Mostly in area and the number of victims. Severity plays a part, but many victims suffer no more than if they had a severe cold or a form of influenza. In fact, more people die of the flu than currently are victimized by the corona virus.
That may change, of course, since so little is known about this particular viral strain. And that, moreover, is a major part of the problem, which is rising to near panic levels in many parts of the world. Some governors in America have declared a state of emergency in their jurisdictions, airlines and resorts are suffering revenue declines as tourists and vacationers cancel plans because of virus fears, the National Guard has been called out to minimize activity in a suburb of New York City, and Italy has sharply limited travel in the entire nation.
But at its root, a pandemic is called that simply because of its name: Pan- means all, or everywhere, and -dem refers to people. The prefix epi- implies a surge, as in the top of something. So while an epidemic is similar to the top of a curve, a pandemic implies that the problem will reach a high and stay there.
The current problem, however, is how to establish the top of the surge and how long infections will remain at a high.
Meanwhile, efforts to find a vaccine have ramped up. A bit late, considering that experts warned of the potential dangers some months ago. Their warnings, however, were dismissed by some government leaders as unimportant, that the infection is no worse than the common cold.
Then people started dying.
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