Pandemics

PANDEMICS

A pandemic is the worldwide spread of a new disease.An influenza pandemic occurs when a new influenza virus emerges and spreads around the world, and most people do not have immunity. 

Viruses that have caused past pandemics typically originated from animal influenza viruses.
Some aspects of influenza pandemics can appear similar to seasonal influenza while other characteristics may be quite different. For example, both seasonal and pandemic influenza can cause infections in all age groups, and most cases will result in the person recovering fully without treatment. However, typical seasonal influenza causes the most deaths among the elderly while other severe cases occur most commonly in people with a variety of medical conditions.

By contrast, the H1N1 pandemic caused most of its severe or fatal disease in younger people, both those with chronic conditions as well as healthy persons. It also caused many more cases of viral pneumonia than is normally seen with seasonal influenza.

In case of both seasonal and pandemic influenza, the total number of people who get severely ill can vary. However, the impact or severity tends to be higher in pandemics partly because of the much larger number of people in the population who lack pre-existing immunity to the new virus. In case of both seasonal and pandemic influenza, the highest levels of activity is expected to occur in the usual influenza season for an area. (In the temperate climate zones, this is usually the winter months). 

In the case of H1N1 pandemic, there were large outbreaks in the summer. Below listed are a few pandemics that occurred in the past:

• HIV/AIDS PANDEMIC (AT ITS PEAK, 2005-2012)
• FLU PANDEMIC (1968)
• ASIAN FLU (1956-1958)
• FLU PANDEMIC (1918)
• SIXTH CHOLERA PANDEMIC (1910-1911)
• FLU PANDEMIC (1889-1890)
• THIRD CHOLERA PANDEMIC (1852–1860)
• THE BLACK DEATH (1346-1353)
• PLAGUE OF JUSTINIAN (541-542)
• ANTONINE PLAGUE (165 AD)

Historical data indicates that there is no set global trend in case of occurrence of pandemics. Pandemics occur randomly and in a staggered fashion throughout the globe. However, whenever they occur, they ensure severe financial and human resource loss. Whenever pandemics occur, they have shown an increasing trend in terms of losses.