Experts say endemic means a disease or condition that occurs regularly, at an expected rate.
According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, there has been a huge surge in COVID-19 cases in the United States. Experts say that while the infection is manageable, the pesky threat is not going away. However, earlier this month, Aron Hall, deputy director for science at the CDC, described COVID-19 as an endemic disease worldwide.
Hall said the virus continues to circulate and has become more predictable.
“COVID-19 remains a very important problem,” he told NPR, “but it’s a problem that can now be managed in the context of many public health threats and not as a sort of singular pandemic threat. So the way we’re addressing COVID-19 now is very consistent with the way we’re addressing other endemic diseases.”
Is COVID-19 endemic?
Experts say endemic means a disease or condition that occurs regularly, at an expected rate. Epidemic, meanwhile, is when cases increase “beyond what is expected for a time and place, or population.” “COVID-19 is a virus that will likely be with us for a long time, and CDC is approaching it that way, focusing on strategies to prevent severe illness and protect those most at risk,” Hall said.
“Its health effects are increasingly similar to those of other respiratory viral diseases, including influenza and RSV,” the spokesperson added.
Changes in COVID-19 over time
Doctors and researchers say they have a better understanding of the virus and the disease it causes as the infection has undergone several changes since the pandemic broke out in 2020. “We know how to prevent it and we know different ways to treat it,” she said. “There are even some antiviral medications that reduce its duration and severity.”
Apart from that, there are now proper test kits, laboratory tests and surveillance systems that reveal everything about the evolution of the virus: when it starts, when it peaks and when it declines.
“Like the other four previous human coronaviruses, [SARS-CoV-2] “COVID-19 is now part of the large group of viruses that will give most of us flu-like symptoms, while making a small proportion of people seriously ill or worse,” he said. Still, experts believe COVID-19 should be taken seriously, as just because it is endemic doesn’t mean it can’t harm us.
Hundreds of COVID-19-related deaths are now being reported each week. On its website, the CDC notes that “when we look at the number of hospitalizations and deaths,” COVID-19 continues to differ from other respiratory viruses “in important ways, including long COVID-19.”
Why are COVID-19 cases increasing??
Although COVID-19 is endemic, experts say that doesn’t mean there aren’t times when new infections aren’t occurring. Historically, COVID-19 tends to spike in the summer. The CDC estimates that COVID-19 infections are increasing in 25 states, declining or likely declining in five states, and stable or uncertain in 17 others.
Doctors attribute the surge to many factors, including low immunity and the ability of the current variants (FliRT) to evade the immune system. In addition, high summer heat and humidity keep people indoors, further contributing to the transmission of the disease.
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