Covid-19 Endemicity | 01 Sep 2021
Why in News
According to the World Health Organization (WHO) India seems to be entering some stage of Covid-19 endemicity where there is low- to moderate-level transmission.
Key Points
- Endemicity:
- An endemic disease is a disease that is always present in a certain population or a given geographical region.
- Some examples of endemics include chicken pox and malaria, where there are a predictable number of cases every year in certain parts of the world.
- Endemic vs Epidemic vs Pandemic:
- Endemic diseases are often confused with epidemics. However, an epidemic refers to an outbreak of a disease. An epidemic occurs when a disease is spreading through one or more populations. In contrast, the endemic disease is one that is constantly present in a group or geographic area.
- Pandemics are worldwide epidemics. A pandemic affects more people and takes more lives than an epidemic.
- Under certain circumstances, an epidemic can lead to a disease becoming endemic.
- Endemic diseases are often confused with epidemics. However, an epidemic refers to an outbreak of a disease. An epidemic occurs when a disease is spreading through one or more populations. In contrast, the endemic disease is one that is constantly present in a group or geographic area.
- Reason for Covid's Endemicity:
- Only those pathogens can be eradicated that don’t have animals (another species) as a reservoir.
- It means if there is a virus/pathogen that is present in some animal reservoir then it can transmit again once the level of immunity wanes in the population against the disease caused by it.
- In the case of coronavirus disease, it will continue to circulate as it is present in the animal reservoir.
- Only those pathogens can be eradicated that don’t have animals (another species) as a reservoir.
- Implications:
- On Immunity:
- If enough people are vaccinated or have been exposed to the infection, then the virus will cause symptomatic infection but not disease.
- On Future Cases:
- As long as the new variant does not come with much more transmissibility than Delta variant, it is more likely that there will be a steady level of cases, with some regions, especially of low prior seroprevalence and low vaccination rates, seeing spikes.
- On Immunity: