Herd immunity

For the evolutionary antiparasite defence, see Social immunity.

Herd immunity (also called herd effect, community immunity, population immunity, or mass immunity) is a form of indirect protection that applies only to contagious diseases. It occurs when a sufficient percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, whether through previous infections or vaccination,[1] that the communicable pathogen cannot maintain itself in the population, its low incidence thereby reducing the likelihood of infection for individuals who lack immunity.[2][3][4]

Once the herd immunity has been reached, disease gradually disappears from a population and may result in eradication or permanent reduction of infections to zero if achieved worldwide.[5][6] Herd immunity created via vaccination has contributed to the reduction of many diseases.[7]

  1. ^ "Herd immunity | immunology". Encyclopedia Britannica. Archived from the original on 1 April 2023. Retrieved 13 June 2021.
  2. ^ Fine P, Eames K, Heymann DL (April 2011). ""Herd immunity": a rough guide". Clinical Infectious Diseases. 52 (7): 911–6. doi:10.1093/cid/cir007. PMID 21427399.
  3. ^ Gordis L (2013). Epidemiology. Elsevier Health Sciences. pp. 26–27. ISBN 978-1455742516. Archived from the original on 1 July 2023. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  4. ^ "Cold-Causing Coronaviruses Don't Seem to Confer Lasting Immunity". The Scientist Magazine®. Archived from the original on 7 January 2021. Retrieved 26 January 2021.
  5. ^ Somerville M, Kumaran K, Anderson R (2012). Public Health and Epidemiology at a Glance. John Wiley & Sons. pp. 58–59. ISBN 978-1118308646. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  6. ^ Cliff, Smallman-Raynor M (2013). Oxford Textbook of Infectious Disease Control: A Geographical Analysis from Medieval Quarantine to Global Eradication. Oxford University Press. pp. 125–36. ISBN 978-0199596614. Archived from the original on 1 May 2021. Retrieved 29 March 2015.
  7. ^ Kim TH, Johnstone J, Loeb M (September 2011). "Vaccine herd effect". Scandinavian Journal of Infectious Diseases. 43 (9): 683–9. doi:10.3109/00365548.2011.582247. PMC 3171704. PMID 21604922.
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