How the WHO and CDC are redefining the meaning of key public health concepts Pandemic. The word that describes something affecting all (= pan) people (= demos). But what is that something? According to the World Health Organization, it's about the global spread of a novel virus that results in "enormous numbers of deaths and illness." Or rather it was how the WHO defined an influenza pandemic up until 2008. Some time before or during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, the definition was changed and the quoted words about the severity of the impact were removed.
What's in a Word?
What's in a Word?
What's in a Word?
How the WHO and CDC are redefining the meaning of key public health concepts Pandemic. The word that describes something affecting all (= pan) people (= demos). But what is that something? According to the World Health Organization, it's about the global spread of a novel virus that results in "enormous numbers of deaths and illness." Or rather it was how the WHO defined an influenza pandemic up until 2008. Some time before or during the 2009 H1N1 outbreak, the definition was changed and the quoted words about the severity of the impact were removed.