Editor: Colleen Green
Contact: colleen_grn@yahoo.com
Book of the Month
Mastering Plot Twists:
How to Use Suspense, Targeted
Storytelling Strategies,
and Structure to Captivate
Your Readers
Available on Amazon
Words of the Month
“Epidemic” vs. “Pandemic”: What Do These Terms Mean?
What is an epidemic?
An epidemic disease is one “affecting many persons at the same time, and spreading from person to person in a locality where the disease is not permanently prevalent.” The World Health Organization (WHO) further specifies epidemic as occurring at the level of a region or community.
Epidemic is commonly used all on its own as a noun, meaning “a temporary prevalence of a disease.” For example: The city was able to stop the flu epidemic before it spread across the state.
Metaphorically, epidemic is “a rapid spread or increase in the occurrence of something,” usually with a negative or humorous connotation: An epidemic of gentrification was affecting low-income communities or The hipster look gave way to an epidemic of 1990s fashion.
What is a pandemic?
Compared to an epidemic disease, a pandemic disease is an epidemic that has spread over a large area, that is, it’s “prevalent throughout an entire country, continent, or the whole world.”
Pandemic is also used as a noun, meaning “a pandemic disease.” The WHO more specifically defines a pandemic as “a worldwide spread of a new disease.” On March 11, the WHO officially declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic due to the global spread and severity of the disease.
While pandemic can be used for a disease that has spread across an entire country or other large landmass, the word is generally reserved for diseases that have spread across continents or the entire world. For instance: After documenting cases in all continents except Antarctica, scientists declared the disease a pandemic.
As an adjective, pandemic can also mean “general” and “universal,” also often with a negative connotation. However, pandemic appears to be most commonly used in the context of epidemiology, which is concerned with infectious diseases.
How to use epidemic vs. pandemic
… think of an epidemic as the start of something—whether a disease or a trend—spreading rapidly within a community or region, whereas a pandemic is what an epidemic becomes once it reaches a far wider swath of people, especially across continents or the entire world.
If something is spreading like wildfire, it’s an epidemic. If something has already spread like wildfire and is currently massive in its reach and impact, it’s a pandemic.
And for good measure … here’s another example of each in a sentence.
- The city had to close schools to contain a measles epidemic.
- Although it isn’t exactly known where the disease first originated, the 1918 Spanish flu pandemic is estimated to have affected one-third of people across the entire globe.
Your mind is like a garden. Your
thoughts are the seeds.
You can grow flowers
or you can grow weeds.
Source: The Farmers’ Almanac
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