What are the differences between pandemics and epidemics? The WHO defines pandemics, epidemics, and endemics based on the rate of spread of a disease. Therefore, the difference between an epidemic and a pandemic is not in the severity of the disease, but in the degree to which it has spread . A pandemic crosses international borders, unlike regional epidemics. This wide geographic reach is what causes pandemics to cause large-scale social disruption, economic loss, and general societal hardship.

These are the most common endemics on our planet:

Malaria

Malaria is a typical example of endemicity, affecting 300 million people worldwide annually, with the majority of cases in the tropics. It is a disease caused by the Plasmodium parasite, transmitted to humans through the female anopheles mosquito.

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Cholera is a disease caused by infection of the small intestine by a bacterium called Vibrio cholerae which, by producing a toxin, causes profuse diarrhea and vomiting. It has been practically eliminated in Western countries but, in certain areas, such as India or Bangladesh, it continues to be a major public health problem.

Dengue

Dengue is endemic in a hundred countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, in Tropical South America, Central America, Southeast Asia and Southeast Asia . This febrile illness is transmitted by the Aedes aegypti mosquito and less frequently by the Aedes albopictus or tiger mosquito. Children, tourists and travelers are usually the most exposed to the transmission of the disease.

Yellow fever

Yellow fever is transmitted by the bite of the Aedes Aegypti mosquito, which transmits the disease among men. It is an endemic disease in Central and South America and in Sub-Saharan Africa.

Leprosy

Leprosy is caused by the bacillus Mycobacterium leprae , discovered by the Norwegian doctor Gerhard Armauer Hansen ; hence the disease was named Hansen’s disease. Leprosy is an endemic disease more frequent in tropical or temperate countries.

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Plague is caused by a bacterium called Yersinia pestis and the disease can be spread through the bite of an infected flea, through contact with tissue from infected animals, or through respiratory secretions from an already sick person. The three most endemic countries for this disease are Madagascar, the Democratic Republic of the Congo and Peru.

Rage

Rabies is a widely distributed disease in Africa, Asia and South America, and endemic in about 150 countries in the world. There are few countries where it is not common. It is produced by a virus belonging to the Rhabdoviridae family that affects the central nervous system of mammals: the brain and spinal cord.

Tuberculosis

Tuberculosis is an infectious disease caused by a bacterium, Mycobacterium Tuberculosis , which was first discovered on March 24, 1882 by the German physician and microbiologist Robert Koch. It exists as an endemic disease in many areas of the world.