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The difference between an Epidemic and a Pandemic

I turn on the news, or turn on our DAB digital radio – and all i hear about is pig flu! Im not really bothered about it to be honest, its a flu bug that affects people who have had sex with pigs – and since im no swine-ger (haha see what i did there?) im not at all bothered!

Anyway, i kept hearing about this “pandemic” and i wondered what the difference was between an Epidemic and a Pandemic? Someone told me that an epidemic was localised and a pandemic was global. But then im sure i had heard people referring to a global epidemic?

So what’s the difference?

Well the topic came up over dinner at my mums, and none of us knew the difference.

I received an email off Mum with the follwing in so i thought i would share with you;

  • Epidemic – Disease prevalent among a community at special time.
  • Pandemic – Disease prevalent over the whole of a community or over ther world.

What the fudge?

So basically an Epidemic is when a disease spreads through a community, and a Pandemic is when a whole community is diseased.

I think.

One reply on “The difference between an Epidemic and a Pandemic”

I hear what your saying.

The thing that gets me about this pig flu is the media hysterity of 1xx people dying from it. WTF? more people die from nut allergies or crossing the road each year than swine flu.

It really does make me laugh A couple of people have swine flu and everyone starts wearing masks. Millions of people have AIDS and no one wears condoms.

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