Hostname: page-component-78c5997874-g7gxr Total loading time: 0 Render date: 2024-11-19T11:25:19.904Z Has data issue: false hasContentIssue false

The effect of heterogeneity in measles vaccination on population immunity

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  09 July 2004

K. GLASS
Affiliation:
National Centre for Epidemiology and Population Health, Australian National University, Canberra 0200, Australia
J. KAPPEY
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing St, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
B. T. GRENFELL
Affiliation:
Department of Zoology, University of Cambridge, Downing St, Cambridge CB2 3EJ, UK
Rights & Permissions [Opens in a new window]

Abstract

Core share and HTML view are not available for this content. However, as you have access to this content, a full PDF is available via the ‘Save PDF’ action button.

High overall vaccination levels sometimes hide pockets of poor coverage. We adopted a meta-population framework to model local aggregation of populations, and used this to investigate the effects of vaccination heterogeneity. A recent survey of antibody levels in a community with low vaccination levels in The Netherlands enabled us to assess the relative importance of local and long-range infective contacts, and thus identify feasible levels of aggregation in the meta-population model. In the aggregated model, we found that heterogeneity in vaccination coverage can lead to a much increased rate of infection among unvaccinated individuals, with a simultaneous drop in the average age at infection.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
2004 Cambridge University Press