An endemic is a public health problem.
The Greek word éndēmos , which can be translated as "one's own territory" , came into French as endémie . From there comes the idea of endemic , which is used in our language to refer to a disease that is common in a certain region.
Endemicity, therefore, is a pathological process that persists stationarily in a certain area for an extended period. A disease that has become endemic means that, in the territory in question, there is a high number of individuals affected over the years , regardless of any fluctuations.
Yellow fever and Chagas disease, examples of endemic
Endemic diseases are usually infectious . One of the most common is yellow fever , also known as black vomit or American plague . It is caused by a virus transmitted by mosquitoes belonging to the Haemagogus and Aedes genera. The symptoms and their severity are quite variable, ranging from a mild fever to the presence of hemorrhages and liver conditions that can lead to death in 50% of cases.
Yellow fever is endemic in several countries with a tropical climate: this means that there is a risk of contagion when someone stays in these nations. For this reason, before traveling to places where yellow fever is endemic, it is usually recommended to be vaccinated against this disease, although the indication must be made by a doctor according to the individual conditions of each person. There are even countries that require vaccination as a requirement to allow entry. It should be noted that there are also non-infectious endemic diseases, given that many physiological conditions fall into this broad category.
Chagas disease is also endemic. It is caused by the flagellated protozoan Trypanosoma cruzi and affects various vertebrates before reaching humans. This disease is found in many countries on the American continent, from southern North America to the Patagonian region of Argentina, and tens of millions of people contract it every year.
Yellow fever is endemic in several countries.
Your classification
The endemic condition is not only maintained over time in a defined geographic area or population, but can persist even throughout the different seasons of the year, something that does not occur with certain common diseases. According to the intensity of transmission, it is possible to classify endemic diseases as follows:
* hypoendemic : they are those whose degree of transmission is very low, and whose effects are not really considerable;
* mesoendemic : these diseases establish themselves in small populations . Its intensity depends largely on the conditions of the community, which is why it must be analyzed in each particular case;
* hyperendemic : the transmission of these endemic diseases is persistent although it lasts a short time. Its effects cannot be combated through population immunity ;
* holoendemic : this is the group with a higher degree of transmission, as well as a very wide distribution area, which is generally due to the fact that the adult population does not have the necessary immunity to deal with it.
From endemic to pandemic
Depending on the number of people affected, the endemic can become an epidemic or a pandemic . The epidemic involves the simultaneous contagion, over a certain time, of a large number of people in the same area. If the epidemic spreads to several countries or affects almost all individuals in a place, it is called a pandemic.
It is important to mention that endemic diseases constitute a public health problem. The State must guarantee prevention measures and treatments to care for citizens. The framework in which this concept is located is epidemiology , a discipline of science that is responsible for the study of frequency, distribution, control, predictions and determining factors that are linked to diseases and health in certain conditions. human populations.