What is a pandemic?

A pandemic is an infectious disease that spreads through large human populations and across various regions. The name pandemic is a derivative of the Greek roots pan(all) and demos(people) and it signifies the vast domain it infects. A pandemic is different from other diseases simply from the number of people it infects and the fact that it is infectious. For instance, cancer is widespread and sometimes fatal but, it is not infectious, thus it is not a pandemic.

Then what disease is a pandemic?

The most prevalent pandemic is HIV/AIDS. Since its onset, the HIV virus has spread in the entire world and has killed more than 2 million people this year alone. Also, more recently the H1N1 virus was categorized as a pandemic(information about the H1N1 pandemic can be found in the following link:http://www.flu.gov/individualfamily/about/h1n1/)

How do these pandemics occur?

Even though the sources of pandemics usually vary, the common denominator for all of them is a process called antigenic shift. During this process, already existing viruses get modified in various ways and create new combinations of proteins in the surface of the virus.(for further information:http://www.flucentre.org/knowledge-centre/pandemic-flu/how-do-pandemics-occur) These new permutations manage to infiltrate the immune system and then spread in other hosts (usually through respiratory processes such as sneezing or coughing).

Why should pandemics worry me?

You might get infected and die.

How can we prevent them?

Even though vaccines and cures are continuously produced for pandemics  they are produced after the pandemic has taken place which means that until a cure is found people will keep on getting infected.  Therefore, the best policy to stop pandemics from spreading is the most apparent one; prevention.

This video provides a brief outline of the course of a pandemic and then suggests ways of coping with it.

Environmental Aspect:

As the information above indicates, viruses originate from other animals or sources other than humans. Due to the fact that our involvement with the environment has increased the past years, we have become more susceptible to viruses. Our over-producing societies have turned the entire world into a big farm that we are cultivating and usually farmers get infected by their farms. From birds, to pigs or flowers, our extreme usage of the earth has produced more dangerous and infectious diseases. And if that was not enough, the climate changes that seem to be taking place, have given pandemics further impetus.

The article below elaborates further into this issue and shows the increasingly dangerous nature of pandemics.

http://www.independent.co.uk/news/science/deadly-animal-diseases-poised-to-infect-humans-1856777.html

In conclusion:

Pandemics are as dangerous for humans as they are infectious. They have the potential to kill millions of humans and if they mutate just right, they could even kill billions of us. For the past 20 years or so, we have been aggravating the problem and increasing our chances of being infected. Further research needs to be done in order to help fight pandemics and of course protective measures should be taken to decrease their offset. A healthier planet means a healthier human race, so all we have to do is keep our environment healthy.And never, ever (this is the most important piece of advice in this blog) make out with other species, not only is it unhealthy,but it also looks pretty bad.