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jooni jooni
 

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M$1.00  Funded By Mahalo ? |  April 28, 2009 01:33 AM

What's the difference between a pandemic and an epidemic?

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dumblonde dumblonde
 
 April 28, 2009 02:18 AM | view on twitter
A pandemic spreads over a large region while epidemics are limited to a particular location. You could say a pandemic occurs when an epidemic gets way out of control.

Merriam-Webster:
pandemic - occurring over a wide geographic area and affecting an exceptionally high proportion of the population
epidemic - affecting or tending to affect an atypically large number of individuals within a population, community, or region at the same time
Source(s):
http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/epidemic
http://www.merriam-webster.com/medical/pandemic



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thechadwic... thechadwic...
 
April 28, 2009 02:56 AM
I get these confused sometimes-- just think that epidemics have an "epi"-center. Okay-- so they don't technically have to have an epicenter, but it helps me to think that it is more local.

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dumblonde dumblonde
 
April 28, 2009 03:18 AM
I like that mnemonic.
It makes me think of the movie Outbreak. The poor monkey was the epicenter I guess :-D

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pazaq pazaq
 
April 28, 2009 01:43 AM | view on twitter
Pandemic is global. Epidemic is sort of local.

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truth7 truth7
 
April 30, 2009 02:12 AM | view on twitter
An epidemic also occurs suddenly, affecting several communities at once.

A pandemic spreads across the world, but more slowly.

Endemic exists within most of the population but does not cause widespread harm.

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dumblonde dumblonde
 
April 30, 2009 02:35 AM - Fact Refuted
Endemic doesn't mean it doesnt cause widespread harm. Dengue fever and malaria are endemic to the tropics and are still catastrophic diseases. It's endemic because it is constantly present in the population. And because it is always present many people have immunity. But it does not denote the disease being less harmful at all.
http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/endemic

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