Living through Pandemic

COVID-19 From Pandemic to Endemic

Health Products For You has been your trusted partner throughout the COVID-19 crisis. Many are now wondering how the pandemic has evolved into an endemic and what this means.

We are sure everyone has had their fill of the COVID-19 pandemic by now, but let’s be honest it will no doubt be with us for quite some time. Let’s take a look at where we are today.

With the global spread of COVID-19, the term pandemic is now a permanent fixture in everyone’s vocabulary. The question is, do we know what a pandemic is and how is it different from an endemic?

What Exactly Is a Pandemic?

Throughout history, viruses have spread to pandemic levels. It has been two years since the World Health Organization (WHO) identified COVID-19 as a pandemic. A pandemic is an outbreak of a disease (in this case a virus) that affects a wide geographic area. In the case of the coronavirus outbreak in 2020, every continent experienced large outbreaks of this virus and the subsequent deaths that occurred. Other historic pandemics include:

• The Black Plague (1347-1352)
• Russian Flu of 1889
• Spanish Flu 1918-1919
• H3N2 Pandemic (1968)
• HIV/AIDS 1981
• SARS (2002-2004)

As you can see, there have been numerous times throughout history that the globe has been in the grip of a pandemic. So, how does a virus such as COVID-19 evolve from a pandemic into an endemic?

Evolution

The study of the distribution and determinates of health-related events such as viruses is called epidemiology. Epidemiologists often determine the levels of these viruses as they impact global populations. The Centers for Disease Control (CDC) uses infection rates to measure how many people have been affected by a certain virus and how far it has spread. The CDC rates them as:

• Sporadic: When a disease occurs infrequently or irregularly.
• Endemic: This constitutes a constant presence or usual prevalence of a disease/infection in a geographic area. Persistent high levels of a virus or infection can be considered hyperendemic.
• Epidemic: A sudden increase of infections of a disease or virus that is typically greater than what is expected.
• Pandemic: Describes when a virus or infection has spread across several countries or even continents affecting a large number of people.

As we develop vaccines and more of the general population is vaccinated, infection numbers normally decrease, but there is a good chance that this Coronavirus may well become an endemic across the

globe. Fortunately, antiviral medication, hospital treatment, and even at-home care have evolved to be more effective in treating the virus. Health Products For You has all the covid supplies you need to manage the virus such as: