This Is How I Teach My Epidemiology Students About Vaccines and Herd Immunity
The Japanese experience shows it’s not just about the vaccinated individual. It’s about community immunity.
Influenza epidemics have long been a significant public health concern. And I’m not just talking about the big pandemic in 1918, or the large epidemics of 1957 or 1968. I’m talking about the yearly epidemics that hit the temperate regions of the world, and the seemingly year-round endemics in the tropical regions.
For most people, a bout of the flu is a miserable time, with aches and pains, fever, and an overall feeling of “blegh,” to be scientific about it. For a few people, influenza is a serious infection that causes serious disease. The elderly and those with chronic conditions are at high risk of complications. For example, during the 2009 H1N1 influenza pandemic, pregnant women had a much higher risk of hospitalization and death. (Pregnancy does interesting things to the immune system.)
Join the Herd
Public health practitioners often frame our recommendation of influenza vaccination (and other vaccines) as a benefit to the people who get the vaccine. We often forget to emphasize the effects of immunization on others who may or may not get the…
