Endemic disease

Endemic Disease

Endemic disease (pronunciation: /ɛnˈdɛmɪk dɪˈziːz/) is a disease that is constantly present to a greater or lesser degree in people of a certain class or in people living in a particular location.

Etymology

The term "endemic" originates from the Greek words "en" meaning "in" and "demos" meaning "people". It was first used in the English language in the 1750s.

Definition

An endemic disease is a disease that is always present in a particular population or region. This can be contrasted with an epidemic, which is a sudden increase in the number of cases of a disease, and a pandemic, which is an epidemic that has spread over multiple countries or continents.

Examples

Examples of endemic diseases include malaria in some parts of Africa, chickenpox in many areas of the world, and HIV/AIDS in certain high-risk populations.

Related Terms

Epidemic: A widespread occurrence of an infectious disease in a community at a particular time.
Pandemic: An epidemic of disease that has spread across a large region, for instance multiple continents, or worldwide.
Prevalence: The proportion of a population who have a specific characteristic in a given time period.
Incidence: The occurrence, rate, or frequency of a disease or other health-related event or condition in a population.