Herd Immunity

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Herd Immunity and the Role of Vaccination Programs in Public Schools Vaccines have been responsible for reducing the effects and spread of infectious diseases such as small pox, polio, and measles. Controversy over vaccinations have existed from their very invention; Arguments against them have been rooted in religion, ethical and political beliefs, and perhaps more common today is self-interest/self-education. Scientific findings overwhelmingly support the use of vaccinations and refute claims that they cause things like autism or gastrointestinal deficiencies. Vaccines not only prevent disease for the individual receiving it, but if a large enough percentage of the population is vaccinated, protection can exist for even the most at risk members …show more content…

Herd Immunity refers to the concept in which a great enough percentage of vaccinated people exist in a population therefore eliminating or greatly lowering risk for unvaccinated persons. This percentage is the critical immunization threshold; these thresholds vary from disease to disease, however they rely on the R0 value of the disease, which refers to the average number of expected transmissions to individuals at risk for the disease from the initial case. In other words, some diseases do not need 100% of a population to receive vaccines in order for its …show more content…

The more people in a population who receive vaccinations the greater the chance of meeting critical immunization threshold and reaching herd immunity, which benefits everybody in a population. In order to protect as many people as possible the government should require all eligible students receive vaccinations before attending public schools. This would greater lower the risk of spreading preventable diseases to the most at risk members of our society. The discourse surrounding personal belief exemptions for vaccines only considers the individual risk factors and fails to account for the dangers this holds for society. Whilst vaccinations cannot be made mandatory for all citizens, mandates should be imposed for those seeking a public education, as these individuals would be in direct contact with other children, the most at risk population to preventable disease in the United

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