Course Objective
- Differentiate between “Pandemic” and “Endemic,” with examples from COVID-19 and other infectious diseases
- Describe examples from the HIV epidemic that may apply to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Explain implications for public health practice as the field transitions from a pandemic to endemic response to COVID-19
Date: April 5th, 2022
Presenter:
Dr. Jessica Justman
Associate Professor of Medicine in Epidemiology
Columbia University Irving Medical Center
In this month’s Log-in2Learn, Dr. Jessica Justman, Associate Professor of Medicine in Epidemiology at the Columbia University Irving Medical Center, goes over epidemiology concepts and skills as illustrated by the evolution of the COVID-19 pandemic. She starts by defining the terms epidemic, pandemic, and endemic as they relate to infectious diseases. She then explains how COVID-19 went from an outbreak to an epidemic, and reviews the progression and classification of epidemics. In addition to the example of COVID-19, she speaks to the toll and spread of other pandemics in history. In particular, she highlights the similarities between HIV and COVID-19 pandemics, including spread, overall burden and disparities, public health and community-driven responses, communication challenges, and issues of uncertainty and fear. Finally, she summarizes lessons learned from the progression and response to COVID-19, commenting on how we could have been better prepared.
Participants will be able to:
- Differentiate between “Pandemic” and “Endemic,” with examples from COVID-19 and other infectious diseases
- Describe examples from the HIV epidemic that may apply to the COVID-19 pandemic
- Explain implications for public health practice as the field transitions from a pandemic to endemic response to COVID-19
