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Kate Langwig, an expert in infectious diseases at Virginia Tech, points out that inadequate vaccination coverage in states like Washington can explain this trend.
According to Langwig, an badistant professor in the Department of Biological Sciences at the College of Science, "For populations to be fully protected against measles, 91-95% or more of the population must be vaccinated. A recent CDC report showed that Washington State had one of the lowest MMR vaccine coverage rates in the country among children under 3 years of age, at 88.5%. "
The CDC report shows that many states do not meet the 91% to 95% threshold recommended by Langwig.
Langwig also notes another concern: "Babies do not receive measles vaccine before 9 to 15 months of age and the second dose of vaccine is given between 4 and 6 years of age, so very young children may not get enough Although it is more important for people who can be vaccinated to comply with the CDC vaccination recommendations, because by vaccinating yourself, you help stop the spread of viruses and prevent their transmission to children who are not yet vaccinated. "
Langwig continues: "For many infectious diseases, we rely on herd immunity to prevent outbreaks of vaccine-preventable infections." Herd immunity protects the "herd" of our population, preventing the infection in the vast majority of people.We can calculate the percentage of the population to be vaccinated to prevent the spread of diseases and maintain the immunity collectif.For certain pathogens, such as measles, the number of people to vaccinate is very high because the measles virus spreads so easily that vaccination rates are falling in some states where it is not necessary and that parents who choose not to be vaccinated do so for reasons of that do not reflect the current state of our knowledge about vaccine safety, with more states adopting laws restricting religious and personal immunization, which California did in 2015 following a major measles outbreak in Disneyland. Hopefully, such laws will help reduce measles outbreaks, although education is also a key factor in improving immunization. "
Langwig's research focuses on the ecology and evolution of infectious diseases, the transmission of pathogens, the effects of pathogens on ecological communities and the consequences of infectious diseases on the conservation and management of diseases. policies.
Source: Virginia Tech
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