Many vaccination opponents scoff at the idea of herd immunity. This is a great document by the World Health Organization that explains many of the concepts important in vaccination, including herd immunity.
When there is herd immunity, there won't be an outbreak of a disease. Here, I'm not referring to herd immunity, but to source drying. Source drying occurs when vaccinating a target population benefits another population. It is explained in the WHO document.
Go look at pages 8 and 13 of the CDC's June 2010 slide presentation to the US vaccine recommendation body, ACIP, on the effectiveness of Rotavirus vaccines. 2008 was a year in which zero two years old had been vaccinated against Rotavirus, but younger children had been. Even though the percentage of younger kids vaccinated wasn't that impressive, there was a huge decrease in the number of serious Rotavirus infections in the 2 year olds --- none of whom had been vaccinated against the disease. Wowser. Another example of source drying is the recent study that concluded: "Immunizing children and adolescents with inactivated influenza vaccine significantly protected unimmunized residents of rural communities against influenza." The study is " Effect of Influenza Vaccination of Children on Infection Rates in Hutterite Communities A Randomized Trial " Targeted vaccination of children can make a difference to others.Vaccinating your child can protect others even without herd immunity because of source drying. And if other people have vaccinated their children, it makes it less likely your child will be sick if they aren't vaccinated or if the vaccine doesn't result in a strong immune response.
When there is herd immunity, there won't be an outbreak of a disease. Here, I'm not referring to herd immunity, but to source drying. Source drying occurs when vaccinating a target population benefits another population. It is explained in the WHO document.
Go look at pages 8 and 13 of the CDC's June 2010 slide presentation to the US vaccine recommendation body, ACIP, on the effectiveness of Rotavirus vaccines. 2008 was a year in which zero two years old had been vaccinated against Rotavirus, but younger children had been. Even though the percentage of younger kids vaccinated wasn't that impressive, there was a huge decrease in the number of serious Rotavirus infections in the 2 year olds --- none of whom had been vaccinated against the disease. Wowser.
Another example of source drying is the recent study that concluded: "Immunizing children and adolescents with inactivated influenza vaccine significantly protected unimmunized residents of rural communities against influenza." The study is " Effect of Influenza Vaccination of Children on Infection Rates in Hutterite Communities A Randomized Trial " Targeted vaccination of children can make a difference to others.Vaccinating your child can protect others even without herd immunity because of source drying. And if other people have vaccinated their children, it makes it less likely your child will be sick if they aren't vaccinated or if the vaccine doesn't result in a strong immune response.