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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