The corona virus that causes Covid-19, which spread from Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019, is still a world outbreak.
The rapid and widespread spread of the virus made the World Health Organization (WHO) decide that Covid-19 was a global pandemic on March 11, 2020.
Then, after more than a year since the virus spread, many countries in the world are still struggling to reduce the number of cases.
Most recently, WHO said, the corona virus could become an endemic disease in an area, even though vaccinations have begun.

Differences between Pandemic, Epidemic and Endemic

So what is the difference between a pandemic, endemic, and epidemic?
Here is the explanation: Endemic Launching the official website of the Ministry of Education and Culture (Kemendikbud), endemic is a disease that occurs in an area or in a group of people.
Endemic is the state or constant occurrence of a disease or the disease is common in a certain population or geographical area.
Examples of endemic diseases in Indonesia include malaria and dengue hemorrhagic fever (DHF).
An epidemic is an infectious disease that spreads rapidly over a large area and causes many casualties.
The increase in disease rates is above normal, which usually occurs suddenly in a population in a certain geographical area.

Epidemic Example

Examples of diseases that have become epidemics include the Ebola virus in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) in 2019, Avian Influenza/bird flu (H5N1) in Indonesia in 2012, and SARS in 2003.

Quoted from the CDC, an epidemic occurs when an agent and a susceptible host are present in sufficient numbers.
The agent can effectively be transmitted from the source to the susceptible host.
Furthermore, epidemics may result from: – A recent increase in the number or virulence of the agent – A recent introduction of the agent into an unprecedented setting – An enhanced mode of transmission so that more susceptible people are exposed, Changes in the susceptibility of the host response to the agent – Factors that increase host exposure or involve introduction through a new portal of entry.

A pandemic is an outbreak that occurs simultaneously everywhere, covering a large geographic area.
Pandemics are epidemics that spread across almost an entire country or continent, usually affecting many people.
An example of a disease that became a pandemic is Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

This article has been published on Kompas.com with the title “WHO Says Covid-19 Can Be an Endemic Disease, This is the Difference with Epidemic, and Pandemic”, Click to read: kompas.com.Author: Mela ArnaniEditor : Rizal Setyo Nugroho