Halim M1*, Halim A2, Trivana V3
1University of Salford, MSc Biomedical Science, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom
2Zhong Shan Hospital, Shanghai Medical College, Fudan University, Shanghai, China
3College of Civil Engineering, Tongji University, Shanghai, China
Corresponding Author: Michael Halim
Address: University of Salford, MSc Biomedical Science, Greater Manchester, United Kingdom.
Received date: 24 September 2020; Accepted date: 23 October 2020; Published date: 30 October 2020
Citation: Halim M, Halim A, Trivana V. Analysing and Interpreting the Concept and Possible Implementation of Herd Immunity in the Human Population against COVID 19 Infections. J Health Care and Research. 2020 Oct 30;1(3):172-81.
Copyright © 2020 Halim M, Halim A, Trivana V. This is an open-access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.
Keywords: Herd Immunity, Vaccine, SARS-CoV-2, Covid-19, Epidemiology, Pandemic, Natural Immunity, Virus
Abstract
Introduction: Herd immunity refers to developing immunity in individuals by acquiring natural immunity or through vaccination. The Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome-Corona Virus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported in a city in China, Wuhan. Currently, no vaccines are available to treat and cure the Covid-19 pandemic.
Methods: Information was gathered from electronic databases such as PubMed and Google Scholar. These articles were checked for relevance with recent articles and journals were included while older ones were excluded. Data analysis was then performed using MS Excel and SPSS.
Results: Current epidemiological evidence suggests different countries have varying infection rates, therefore varying rates of reproduction number. The current minimum threshold required for herd immunity currently stands between 50-66.67%, although rates vary differently across the globe.
Conclusion: A vaccine development is anticipated to be critical in controlling the Covid-19. However, there are several limitations, including changing and managing trends at the virus epitope, differences in the reproduction number across different countries and varying geographical locations, underreporting of infection rates across countries across the globe, and the varying infectious nature of the virus among the demographic population. Regarding the presented information, the vaccine development would significantly accelerate herd immunity and play a key role in managing the disease.
