Paper II
2024 December (Supplementary) (2019 Scheme) · 100 marks · 180 min

Question

Define pandemic. Name any four pandemics. Describe in detail strategies taken for their control. (1+2+3)

Q56 marksShort Essays

Answer

Pandemic: an epidemic occurring worldwide, or over a very wide area, crossing international boundaries, and usually affecting a large number of people, involving a new or re-emerged pathogen to which most of the population lacks pre-existing immunity, resulting in sustained human-to-human transmission across multiple countries/continents.

Four pandemics:

  1. 1918 Influenza pandemic (“Spanish flu”) — caused by an H1N1 influenza A virus.
  2. HIV/AIDS pandemic.
  3. 2009 H1N1 Influenza pandemic (“Swine flu”).
  4. COVID-19 pandemic — caused by SARS-CoV-2.

Strategies for control:

  1. Surveillance and early detection — robust disease surveillance systems (e.g., WHO’s Global Influenza Surveillance and Response System, and analogous systems for other pathogens) to detect emerging threats early and enable rapid response, including genomic sequencing to track viral evolution/variants.
  2. Non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPIs) — case isolation, contact tracing and quarantine, physical/social distancing, mask usage, travel restrictions, and school/workplace closures, employed particularly before vaccines/effective treatments become available (as extensively used during COVID-19).
  3. Vaccination — rapid development and mass deployment of vaccines is central to pandemic control (e.g., accelerated COVID-19 vaccine development/rollout, and the WHO Global Influenza Programme’s role in annual/pandemic vaccine strain selection); achieving high population coverage to establish herd immunity.
  4. International coordination and communication — WHO-led global coordination (declaration of a Public Health Emergency of International Concern, PHEIC), information sharing between countries, coordinated research efforts, and equitable resource/vaccine distribution across nations, given the inherently transnational nature of pandemic spread. Additional supporting strategies include strengthening healthcare system capacity/surge preparedness, public health education/risk communication, and, where applicable (e.g., HIV/AIDS), targeted behavioural interventions and antiretroviral treatment programmes to control transmission and disease progression over the longer term.

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