Epidemic

An epidemic (from Greek ἐπί epi "upon or above" and δῆμος demos "people") is the rapid spread of disease to a large number of hosts in a given population within a short period of time.

For example, in meningococcal infections, an attack rate in excess of 15 cases per 100,000 people for two consecutive weeks is considered an epidemic.

[3] An epidemic may be restricted to one location; however, if it spreads to other countries or continents and affects a substantial number of people, it may be termed as a pandemic.

[5] Before Hippocrates, epidemios, epidemeo, epidamos, and other variants had meanings similar to the current definitions of "indigenous" or "endemic".

[5] By the early 17th century, the terms endemic and epidemic referred to contrasting conditions of population-level disease, with the endemic condition a "common sicknesse" and the epidemic "hapning in some region, or countrey, at a certaine time, ....... producing in all sorts of people, one and the same kind of sicknesse".

[13][14] Pathogen transmission is a term used to describe the mechanisms by which a disease-causing agent (virus, bacterium, or parasite) spreads from one host to another.

Many diseases display seasonality,[19][20] This may be due to one or more of the following underlying factors: -[21] Changes in behaviour can affect the likelihood or severity of epidemics.

[30][31] A factor which contributed to the initial rapid increase in the 2014 Ebola virus epidemic was ritual bathing of (infective) corpses; one of the control measures was an education campaign to change behaviour around funeral rites.

[38] Still, despite the most extensive preparatory measures, a fast-spreading pandemic may easily exceed and overwhelm existing health-care resources.

[40] Consequently, early and aggressive mitigation efforts, aimed at the so-called "epidemic curve flattening" need to be taken.

[40] Such measures usually consist on non-pharmacological interventions such as social/physical distancing, aggressive contact tracing, "stay-at-home" orders, as well as appropriate personal protective equipment (i.e., masks, gloves, and other physical barriers to spread).

Recognizing that the same capacities and capabilities can be leveraged and applied for groups of pathogens based on their mode of transmission, the workshop aimed to facilitate pandemic planning efficiency for countries in the region.

The participating countries, in the aftermath of the workshop, outlined their immediate next steps and sought support from WHO and its partners to bolster regional preparedness against respiratory pathogen pandemics.