ViroBlogy

Via Scoop.it – Virology News

Opinion: The Risk of Forgoing Vaccines |…

“Given the direct benefit to the individual of immunity against disease, vaccination, is not completely altruistic. However, immunization provides a significant benefit to society. One can liken a human newborn, or a person who cannot get vaccinated, to a vulnerable bird with ticks on the top of its head. As individuals, we cannot fully protect these people from infectious disease, and instead we rely on herd immunity. If society is made up mostly of “suckers” that have expended the energy and cost to get vaccinated, then the vulnerable will be protected due to the absence or reduction of disease transmission. But if a significant percentage of individuals decides against vaccination, for one reason or another, we may lose herd immunity, and infectious disease will spread.”

I cannot get over how stupid some people can be.  I certainly won’t let their children play with my children – they might benefit from a herd imunity they are not entitled to.

Via the-scientist.com

This entry was posted on 4 April, 2012 at 17:33 and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.