Medicine and Man

Guest Post:

The word pandemic has been thrown around in recent years because of the prevalence of many major illnesses that have occurred throughout the third world nations as well as even many Western nations. However, the recent Swine Flu outbreak has caused much deliberation as to the proper terminology of the word itself.

There have been generations of widespread epidemics in the past that have included influenza, cholera, and a multitude of other diseases. However, the World Health Organization has come up with a six-tiered level in which to determine when to implement specific disease control efforts around the world, which has successfully led to many countries quarantining illnesses which could be easily spread abroad. However, the true definition of a pandemic is not delivered by the WHO nor can medical journals accurately define it as well. Rather, the general public is on its own to determine what a pandemic ensues, as it implies the “rapid spread of an infectious disease to many countries”. However, the severity of pandemics vary with each disease, and not every country is affected when an outbreak occurs.

Additionally, the variety of different illnesses affects the overall terminology of the word; scientists and doctors alike are still unsure as to how pandemics arise, how they spread, and why they vary in their lethality. The background of the originating country has a lot to do with the severity and contamination of the impending illness and helps contribute to the overall definition of a pandemic. The recent Swine Flu outbreak has increased concerns over the spread of a disease within these “Western nations” which otherwise were remarkably protected from threat of outside illnesses that could infiltrate these nations. The fact that the United States was one of the first countries to report signs of such a disease caused the WHO to scramble to upgrade their alert system in order to properly take care of this problem. It is unfortunate that it takes a Western nation to cause this much concern over an illness, while many African nations have been experiencing similar epidemics. The new limelight on these Western nations is solely due to the international trade that occurs within many of these nations, which therefore caused the disease to be spread throughout Europe, Asia, and Australia.

This new illness caused the WHO much stress as to a proper cure for the illness as well as a way in which to quarantine travelers from disease-ridden countries. While the illness can be treated with regular flu remedies, the fact that so many outside the tradition flu age group were coming down with the illness and succumbing to its side effects caused the WHO to take drastic measures and qualify it (perhaps prematurely) as a pandemic. This recent flu outbreak is vastly different from any earlier outbreaks which may be labeled as “true” pandemics, but this type of definition is forever changing and it may take another widespread illness before we can determine what is the proper scenario in which to classify as a pandemic.

This post was contributed by Meredith Walker, (Online nursing schools). She welcomes your feedback at MeredithWalker1983 at gmail.com

References: WHO Pandemic Phase Descriptions (pdf)