When the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a pandemic, officials across the globe initiated several protocols to help its citizens. Laws were set in place to reduce and control the spread, and monetary stipends were offered to those unable to work because of the disease. We’ve received a lot of questions from our loved ones like “What is a pandemic?”, “What is an epidemic?” and “What is the difference between the two?”
We’ve encountered both terms being used interchangeably, and—quite often—inaccurately. It is understandable why many often confuse these two words together, because they both contain the suffix, “-demic”. However, they vary greatly by the scale of infection. From their Greek roots, “-demic” is derived from “demos” meaning “people.” Therefore, when we hear “pandemic disease” or “epidemic disease,” we know that it is a disease affecting a distinct population.
What is an endemic?
Merriam-Webster defines an endemic as something “restricted or peculiar to a locality or region”. When we talk about diseases being endemic, that disease is native to, natural to, or confined to a place or a population of people. Take malaria, for example. Malaria is said to be endemic to tropical regions due to the region’s high, year-round temperature and heavy rainfall.
What is an epidemic?
The World Health Organization defines an epidemic as an “occurrence in a community or region of cases of an illness, specific health-related behaviour, or other health-related events clearly in excess of normal expectancy.” The prefix, “epi-” means “on, upon, near, at” in Greek. Therefore, an epidemic can be thought of as the start of a rapidly spreading disease that affects a community or region but is not quite as widespread as a pandemic. For example, a municipal government can declare an epidemic of measles within their city and close all public areas as a precautionary measure.
What is an outbreak?
The World Health Organization defines an outbreak as “the occurrence of disease cases in excess of normal expectancy. The number of cases varies according to the disease-causing agent, and the size and type of previous and existing exposure to the agent.” While outbreak and epidemic may seem similar, the former is a sudden eruption or occurrence of cases of any scale. It may affect a small, localized group of people, or impact millions across a continent. Let’s look at the example above regarding measles. Despite the declaration of an epidemic by the city, a localized outbreak may occur within a retirement home that was otherwise “measles-free.”
What is a pandemic?
If prefix “pan-” in “pandemic” means “all,” “of everything,” or “involving all members of a group,” then one can assume a pandemic disease is a disease that has spread across a region larger than an epidemic, possibly worldwide. The World Health Organization officially defines a pandemic as “an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries and usually affecting a large number of people.”
COVID-19 was declared a pandemic primarily for its worldwide infection, but this declaration pushes national and global health agencies to respond to the situation with greater urgency, creating swift awareness of the measures to control it.
How is Access eHealth helping the cause?
Access eHealth Technologies is hard at work giving medical professionals working in long-term care facilities the tools they need to combat against the pandemic. Our solution comes in the form of software-as-a-service, AccessEMR, with the intent to ease the workload of long-term healthcare facilities—especially during COVID-19 where precautions are heightened to protect high-risk residents from potential exposure. Several features are available to ease daily tasks or streamline processes, like offering family communication tools to see their loved ones during self-isolation or providing tracking and analytics tools to prevent and/or control the spread of the virus.
If your long-term medical care facility is looking for a robust system that can handle your everyday workflow, book a demo with us today to learn more.