Definition: Pandemic

 

 

Of itself, the term "pandemic" is defined as anything widespread or universal.  In a medical context, the term refers to an epidemic spread across a very wide geographical area.

Pandemics originating from new strains of virus occur with some regularity (roughly every 30 to 40 years). 

Pandemics are of concern because of the potential for millions of deaths.  In perhaps the worst case of an influenza A pandemic, that of 1918 - 1919, some 30 million people died worldwide.

This pandemic appears to have

 

originated in Camp Funston, Kansas (in the US) and was spread to western Europe by American troops engaged in World War I.

It was propagated in three waves, the first of which was comparatively mild.  However, late in 1918 a more virulent strain emerged which often resulted in pneumonia.  Many individuals died within two days of contracting the disease.

Significantly, the virus spread from port cities and along transportation routes.

In a world which has since become much smaller, and

 

in which global travel is common, the potential for the emergence of a lethal strain which would propagate quickly throughout the world cannot be ignored.  Indeed, it is a virtual certainty.

Fortunately, medical science today possesses tools for the quick identification of the genetic makeup of new strains, as well as the capacity for manufacturing vaccines.  The success or failure of dealing with the next pandemic will largely be a matter of politics, and not of the limitations of medical science.  Unfortunately, health issues, especially the health of the poor,

 

has not been a primary concern of the heads of state of the wealthiest Western nations. More typically, Western politicans have been preoccupied with promoting global trade accords primarily of benefit to transnational corporations, and with privatizing and shrinking the public sector, which would alone be responsible for responding to the sort of large-scale public health threat posed by a pandemic.

As with hurricane Katrina, the notion that the best government is the most minimal government is once again cast into serious doubt by the threat posed by pandemics.