Webster's New World on pandemic:
adj.
over a whole area, country, etc.; universal; general; specif., epidemic over a large region: said of a disease
n.
a pandemic disease
Thursday, May 04, 2006
Know Your Demics
I recently came across a reference to "an epidemic of pandemic flu." Pandemic flu looks like avian flu and Spanish flu, but it refers to the prevalence of the disease, not the type of the disease. There could be an epidemic of flu, and if it spread far enough it would be a pandemic of flu.
Webster's New World on pandemic:
Webster's New World on pandemic:
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4 comments:
I just got "Lapsing Into a Comma" for my birthday. I'm excited to start reading it!
(Virusgirl is having a hell of time spelling words correctly today)...
Don't forget the correct use of 'endemic' which has its share of being carelessly tossed in on this subject...
endemic:
1 a : belonging or native to a particular people or country b : characteristic of or prevalent in a particular field, area, or environment 'problems endemic to translation' 'the self-indulgence endemic in the editing industry'
2 : restricted or peculiar to a locality or region 'endemic diseases' 'an endemic species'
Source: Merriam Webster (with liberties)
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