The endemic stage is when a population learns to live with a virus. It’s very different from the epidemic stage when the virus overwhelms a population.
The coronavirus disrupted our lives in many ways. After the deadly first and second waves, India is preparing itself to combat the third wave of COVID-19. As per Dr. Soumya Swaminathan, chief scientist of the World Health Organisation (WHO) it seems that India may be entering the stage of endemicity. In an interview with journalist Karan Thapar for the news website The Wire, she said, “India could have reached some sort of stage of endemicity in terms of the overall COVID-19 situation.
What is the Endemic Stage?
As explained by Dr. Swaminathan, the endemic stage is when a disease-causing pathogen becomes restricted to a population and causes repeated outbreaks there.
The WHO scientist said given the size of India and the heterogeneity of population and immunity status in different parts of the country, it is “very very feasible” that the situation may continue like this with ups and downs in various parts of the nation.
The senior official of WHO said, “As far as India is concerned that seems to be what is happening and because of size of India and heterogeneity of population and immunity status in different parts of country in different pockets, it is very very feasible that the situation may continue like this with ups and downs in different parts of the country, particularly where there are more susceptible population, so those groups who were perhaps less affected by first and second waves or those areas with low levels of vaccine coverage we could see peaks and troughs for the next several months.”
As per The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), an endemic is the constant presence and/or usual prevalence of a disease or infectious agent in a population within a geographic area.
In simpler words, the endemic stage is when a population learns to live with a virus. It’s very different from the epidemic stage when the virus overwhelms a population.
Across the world, many countries have reached an endemic state. Countries including Thailand, Australia, Singapore are considering this virus in its endemic stage and have asked the citizens to learn how to live with the virus.
