What is an epidemic?

The rapid spread of infectious disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time

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A disease or condition that is regularly found among particular people or in a certain area

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The rapid spread of infectious disease to very few number of people in a given population within a large period of time

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A disease or condition that is regularly found among particular people or in a large area

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Solution

The correct option is A The rapid spread of infectious disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time
An epidemic is the rapid spread of infectious disease to a large number of people in a given population within a short period of time, usually two weeks or less. For example, in meningococcal infections, an attack rate in excess of 15 cases per 1,00,000 people for two consecutive weeks is considered an epidemic.

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Terminology	Definition
1. EPIDEMIC	A disease that affects a large number of people within a community, population, or region.
2. PANDEMIC	A is an epidemic that’s spread over multiple countries or continents.
3. ENDEMIC	A disease that occurs only infrequently, haphazardly, irregularly or occasionally at times in a few isolated places with no discernible temporal or spatial pattern
4. SPORADIC	It is used to describe a disease that is present at an approximately constant level within a society or country.