Herd Immunity

[luvestodizz]

Who thinks that herd immunity will help protect those who choose not to get the H1N1 vaccine? I'm not vaccinating my 8 yo but it looks like most of her class is getting the shot in school. How likely will she be protected now that her classmates are vaccinated? If she's protected, that can spread to us, her family, etc. Any thoughts??

 

[Magic Mom]

How sure are you that the rest of them are immunizing? Maybe those parents are all skipping the vaccine and hoping for the herd to protect their child as well.

 

[Handbag Lady]

Who thinks that herd immunity will help protect those who choose not to get the H1N1 vaccine? I'm not vaccinating my 8 yo but it looks like most of her class is getting the shot in school. How likely will she be protected now that her classmates are vaccinated? If she's protected, that can spread to us, her family, etc. Any thoughts??

I think it would be kinda dumb to rely on herd immunity unless you had a reason you cannot take the vaccine or if you are not in a higher risk group.

If everyone believed in herd immunity, we'd all be goners.

 

[Eeyores Butterfly]

All it takes is one kid to get your child sick. I have no doubts there will be multiple children in your child's class who do not receive the vaccine. And kids are notorious for pretty poor hygiene. With the shared surfaces and close quarters, there is a pretty good chance she will get it. Don't forget about all the adults she comes into contact with. Plus, depending on her age, those in her class who do get it will have to get 2 shots four weeks apart which means they will not have full immunity for at least a month. Then there's the general public. She doesn't spend her entire life at school, she is just as much at risk when she goes out about to catch teh virus as she touches door handles, etc that sick people have.

It's your choice to vaccinate or not, but don't delude yourself into thinking that just because many others are she won't get it. It's this exact thinking that has read to a recent uptick in measles and mumps.

ETA: Your family also comes in contact with others, so unless you live in a bubble, you won't be protected. My doctor was telling me today that there was study that found that if a cough or sneeze is not covered with a tissue, the droplets have an average of a ten foot spray. Now think about all the sick people you see coughing around the store or school. I wouldn't like my chances.

 

[PatsMom]

I wouldn't rely on herd immunity. Just reading some of the posts on these boards leads to me to believe many will not vaccinate. You could choose to take your chances but I wouldn't be relying on others to protect my child.

With that said, my daughter is 18 and in college. She has refused both the seasonal flu shot and the swine flu. Her body, her decision. I tried to change her mind but had no luck. She is a conscientious handwasher and the university is pushing hygiene but I am still kind of expecting to hear that she is sick.

And especially in younger kids where hygiene is not so ingrained I would expect the virus to spread quickly.

 

[crispychicky]

In this case, I'd vote NO on Herd Immunity.

Supposing all other your child's other classmates (and teachers) did get vaccinated, that would only protect him at school. Since there's a vaccine shortage and only a minority of the general population have so far been vaccinated, there is no herd outside of the school. Your DC could easily pick up the flu bug from the grocery store, movie theater, restaurants, mall, etc, etc, etc.

 

[N.Bailey]

I'm sure there would be some benefit, but ultimately, just because you're immune doesn't mean you can't carry the virus and spread it that way. I heard this particular strain can survive upward to 8 hours (by some estimates) without a host.

We know of course that it will die out faster because there will be less hosts to contend with.

 

[EMom]

For herd immumity to work effectively, pretty much the whole herd has to participate and that means we must all be part of the herd. Maybe your kid's class has joined the herd, but you can't count on the other kids who share the cafeteria, playground, gym, bathroom, etc. being part of the herd. And you can't count on the folks at the grocery store, mall, movies, or church. You can't count on your co-workers. For herd immunity to truly work, the percentage of particpation has to be incredibly high. There's no way we're going to have that with the H1N1 vaccine.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Herd immunity was a safer bet back when everyone immunized their kids. Now that it is trendy to say no I would venture to guessa good portion of this countries kids are under immunized. Some are mandated at school age but that still leaves an awful lot of kids under the age of 5 who can grow anything in their little bodies. If you look at the recent Mumps outbreak in Brooklyn you can see just how many parents are opting out and all you need is one kid to create an outbreak. Every parent that says no creates a way for disease to get into the community.

I think that when there is nothing else to hope for, herd immunity is as good a place to put your hopes as any. Make no mistake though, it is a desperate hope. I mentioned it myself in my H1N1 post as just that, a desperate hope, but obviously not one I am willing to count on because my own family has been immunized. You do have to realize that with herd immunity you are banking on other parents making decisions you refuse to make. Think about the number of people you talk to who refuse to immunize their kids. If these parents are your kids' friends parents you end up having a group of kids completely vulnerable and the more the idea to reject vaccination grows the larger the group of vulnerable people grows. Unless the entire herd surrounding your kid is fully immunized you get no benefit. Also, immunizations do not prevent the immunized person from getting the disease. Vaccines merely reduce severity of the illness so that means they can still possibly transmit the illness to everyone around them.

 

[EthansMom]

We will be trying to avoid unnecessarily going out in public some this winter to avoid illness... if we skip/consolidate to eliminate 10 public outings and just one of those would have given our family a bad cold or flu, then it's worth it.

However, my opinion regarding NOT vaccinating my child in expectation that most of the rest of the class will receive the vaccine is that the illness will still be going around (albeit more slowly). My personal experience has been that the kids who are sent to school sick are the same ones whose parents are least likely to get the flu vaccines... it's just part of their mindset. So, if there are any kids who aren't vaccinated but get sick in your child's classroom, I'd say there's at least a 50% chance that your unvaccinated kid is going to get sick from that kid.

My asthmatic kids have already gotten the traditional flu shot and will be getting the H1N1 shot. My doctor has also recommended that I get the H1N1shot due to respiratory issues. My DH will get the mist or shot, if it's widely available but since he's pretty healthy (heart and lungs, anyway), we don't consider the H1N1 vaccine to be a priority for him this year... better to let it go to folks who need it.