syndemic

[ sin-dem-ik ]

noun

1. the co-occurrence of more than one epidemic, as HIV and tuberculosis, or substance abuse and mental illness, especially in relation to the biological, social, and psychological interactions of these conditions:

   Poverty is a systemic precondition for the syndemic of obesity and undernutrition.

Word History and Origins

Origin of syndemic¹

syn(ergistic) ( def ) + (epi)demic ( def ); coined in 1944 by Merrill Singer, U.S. medical anthropologist (born 1950)

Example Sentences

Public health professionals consider syphilis to be syndemic with HIV and hepatitis, meaning that they often occur at the same time and carry similar societal risk factors.

From Seattle Times

Earlier this month, Kenya’s National Syndemic Diseases Control Council, a state body charged with coordinating national strategy for HIV and AIDS, raised the alarm that HIV infection rates among those ages 15 to 29 had surged by 61% between 2021 and 2022.

From Seattle Times

The term syndemic refers to the synergies among epidemics.

From Scientific American

In the U.S., conditions were ripe for a syndemic to emerge.

From Scientific American

Syndemic interactions with preexisting inequities in health and the conditions of life meant that the hardest-hit communities were already suffering from concentrated poverty, substandard housing, less access to health care, disproportionate police surveillance and incarceration, greater exposure to air pollution, less access to healthy food and higher rates of cardiometabolic disease.

From Scientific American