A history of herd immunity

Jones, David S.; Helmreich, Stefan

doi:10.1016/s0140-6736(20)31924-3

Cited by 66 publications

(58 citation statements)

References 6 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…The importance of knowledge of and attitudes towards vaccines and vaccination has become central in the past few months. The lack of a vaccine for just one communicable disease (COVID-19) has profoundly impacted social and economic life and has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands [ 14 , 15 ]. While reported vaccine candidates are promising options, the need for high coverage and the existence of a hesitant population may hamper efforts.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and Attitudes on Vaccination in Southern Romanians: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire

Popa

Muntean

et al. 2020

Vaccines

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Vaccines are fundamental instruments upon which all modern medicine is hinged. This has recently come into the light because of the COVID-19 pandemic caused by SARS-CoV-2. We aimed to assess the knowledge and attitudes of the public regarding vaccination. To this end, a questionnaire, which was disseminated to the general population between 2017 and 2019, was used. We evaluated the responses from 1647 individuals (61% female, with a median age of 37 years, mostly from urban settings). Most respondents (85%) had children and were in favor of vaccination. Our study underlines the role that family physicians have in the education and information of citizens. A small, but considerable, number of respondents (108, 7.84% of those with children) had not vaccinated their children according to the national vaccination scheme. Deterrents were considered to be lack of information and fear of side effects. However, 167 of our respondents (12.12% out of 1377 respondents with children) said that their child experienced adverse events—most of which were mild local reactions. Alternatives to vaccination were proposed by some. In this study, we highlight the attitudes of respondents and multiple gaps in general knowledge, both of which may need to be addressed, especially in light of the current pandemic situation and past failed campaigns.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Knowledge and Attitudes on Vaccination in Southern Romanians: A Cross-Sectional Questionnaire

Popa

Muntean

et al. 2020

Vaccines

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…Even correcting for a possible lower sensitivity of capillary blood used in the household survey does not explain the difference, as the corrected seroprevalence might be up to 19.3% (243). Regarding historical natural herdimmunity, it is likely that this was achieved for several infections, with outbreaks that occurred as births added sufficient numbers of new susceptible young individuals (e.g., for Measles, Mumps, Rubella, Pertussis, Chickenpox, Polio) (244,245). The current vaccines are given intramuscular, and thus do not induce mucosal IgA responses thought necessary to prevent upper respiratory tract SARS-CoV-2 infection (246).…”

Section: Content Of the Call For Adjusting Covid-19 Response Prioritiesmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19: Rethinking the Lockdown Groupthink

Joffe

2021

Front. Public Health

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) has caused the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) worldwide pandemic in 2020. In response, most countries in the world implemented lockdowns, restricting their population's movements, work, education, gatherings, and general activities in attempt to “flatten the curve” of COVID-19 cases. The public health goal of lockdowns was to save the population from COVID-19 cases and deaths, and to prevent overwhelming health care systems with COVID-19 patients. In this narrative review I explain why I changed my mind about supporting lockdowns. The initial modeling predictions induced fear and crowd-effects (i.e., groupthink). Over time, important information emerged relevant to the modeling, including the lower infection fatality rate (median 0.23%), clarification of high-risk groups (specifically, those 70 years of age and older), lower herd immunity thresholds (likely 20–40% population immunity), and the difficult exit strategies. In addition, information emerged on significant collateral damage due to the response to the pandemic, adversely affecting many millions of people with poverty, food insecurity, loneliness, unemployment, school closures, and interrupted healthcare. Raw numbers of COVID-19 cases and deaths were difficult to interpret, and may be tempered by information placing the number of COVID-19 deaths in proper context and perspective relative to background rates. Considering this information, a cost-benefit analysis of the response to COVID-19 finds that lockdowns are far more harmful to public health (at least 5–10 times so in terms of wellbeing years) than COVID-19 can be. Controversies and objections about the main points made are considered and addressed. Progress in the response to COVID-19 depends on considering the trade-offs discussed here that determine the wellbeing of populations. I close with some suggestions for moving forward, including focused protection of those truly at high risk, opening of schools, and building back better with a economy.

show abstract

“…For example, there have been suggestions that in the US alone, up to 2 million people would die before getting there ( Aschwanden, 2020 ). Although commentators in the Lancet have concluded that “any proposed approach to achieve herd immunity through natural infection is not only highly unethical, but also unachievable”, it could be the only option for certain resource-poor and fragile nations ( Jones and Helmreich, 2020 ).…”

Section: Covid-19: Is Herd Immunity the Only Option For Fragile Yemementioning

confidence: 99%