Question : There are few words missing in the passage given below. The options given contain an answer that will fit in those given blanks. Choose the correct word to be used to make the sentence coherent and grammatically correct.

An infection is said to be endemic when the rate of occurance becomes static in a particular 1)________________ region, which means that main cause of the disease  — SARS-CoV-2 in this particular case — it is likely to exist but will not lead to large 2)_______________ as witnessed over the last two years.
Although it has been seen that the total number of infections in India is constantly 3)_______________, experts say they cannot provide a fixed timeline as when the disease will become endemic. It will all be dependent on the number of  people who are susceptible to this pathogen, vaccination rates, and also to emergence of new variants that are able to overcome the immune response.
“Endemic means that the virus will still remain in the population and there will be 4)_____________ ups and downs  as and when the favourable condition of the virus will exist. For example, we have seen that the seasonal flu  the number for which goes up in the winters and or especially when the season is changing because of lower immunity in people ,on the other hand we have seen the dengue cases rising after monsoons because of the availability of vectors. Covid-19 also may become seasonal and cause disease in the 5)_______________,” said Dr Pramod Garg, who is currently the director of Translational Health Science and Technology Institute (THSTI)-Faridabad.

Choose the correct word to be used in blank 4.

Option 1: publicizing

Option 2: periodic
 

Option 3: salient
 

Option 4: digressed

Team Careers360 1st Jan, 2024