Herd immunity to Ebola viruses is not a realistic target for current vaccination strategies
Citation: Masterson SG, Lobel L, Carroll MW, Wass MN, Michaelis M. Herd immunity to Ebolaviruses is not a realistic target for current vaccination strategies. Frontiers in immunology. 2018 May 9;9:1025.
Summary: It was found that more than 80% of a population need to be vaccinated to establish herd immunity. These rates are currently unrealistic, due to vaccination resistance, financial and logistical challenges, and a lack of vaccines that provide long-term protection against all human-pathogenic Ebola viruses.
This systematic review analyzed the requirements for a prophylactic vaccination program based on the basic reproductive number (the number of secondary cases that results from an individual infection). It is anticipated that outbreak management for the foreseeable future will depend on surveillance and case isolation. Clinical vaccine candidates are available only for Ebola viruses. The use of such vaccines must be focused on health-care workers, possibly in combination with ring vaccination approaches.