Pandemic
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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A pandemic (from Greek πᾶν pan "all" + δῆμος demos "people") is an epidemic of infectious disease that is spreading through human populations across a large region; for instance a continent, or even worldwide. A widespread endemic disease that is stable in terms of how many people are getting sick from it is not a pandemic. Further, flu pandemics exclude seasonal flu, unless the flu of the season is a pandemic. Throughout history there have been a number of pandemics, such as smallpox and tuberculosis. More recent pandemics include the HIV pandemic and the 2009 flu pandemic.
In popular culture
Pandemics appear in multiple fiction works. A common use is in disaster films, where the protagonists must avoid the effects of the plague, for example zombies.
Literature
- The Decameron, a 14th-century writing by Italian author Giovanni Boccaccio, circa 1353
- The Last Man, an 1826 novel by Mary Shelley
- The Plague, a 1947 novel by Albert Camus
- Earth Abides, a 1949 novel by George R. Stewart
- I Am Legend, a 1954 science fiction/horror novel by American writer Richard Matheson
- The Andromeda Strain, a 1969 science fiction novel by Michael Crichton
- The Last Canadian, a 1974 novel by William C. Heine
- The Black Death, a 1977 novel by Gwyneth Cravens describing an outbreak of the Pneumonic plague in New York
- The Stand, a 1978 novel by Stephen King
See also
- Epidemic
- Endemic
- Syndemic
- Pandemic Severity Index
- Biological hazard
- Bioterrorism
- Biological warfare
- Influenza pandemic
- Mortality from infectious diseases
- Risks to civilization, humans and planet Earth
- Medieval demography
- Globalization and disease
- Tropical diseases
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC)
- European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC)
- WHO pandemic phases