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Illustration av det nya coronaviruset/Annika Linde. (Wikimedia/TT)

Tidigare statsepidemiolog: Strategin är att låta många smittas i långsam takt

Det vore en bra strategi att låta infektionen för det nya coronaviruset spridas långsamt bland barn och deras föräldrar, skriver tidigare statsepidemiolog Annika Linde på Facebook enligt DN.

För TT utvecklar Linde resonemanget, och säger att hon tror att det är Folkhälsomyndighetens strategi att låta så många som möjligt smittas för att uppnå det som kallas flockimmunitet.

– Folkhälsomyndigheten har valt den strategi som kanske långsiktigt är mest hållbar, att låta en spridning ske samtidigt som man verkligen skyddar riskgrupperna.

Statsepidemiolog Anders Tegnell förnekar att detta skulle vara en strategi från Folkhälsomyndigheten.

– Nej, i alla fall inte att det ska ske så snabbt som möjligt. Däremot börjar vi nå en förståelse för att viruset inte kommer att sluta spridas förrän vi når flockimmunitet. Men det måste ske lugnt, sakta och kontrollerat så att sjukvården hinner med att hantera det, vi ska inte skynda på det, säger han till TT.

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Flockimmunitet
Wikipedia (en)
Herd immunity (also called herd effect, community immunity, population immunity, or social immunity) is a form of indirect protection from infectious disease that occurs when a large percentage of a population has become immune to an infection, thereby providing a measure of protection for individuals who are not immune. In a population in which a large number of individuals are immune, chains of infection are likely to be disrupted, which stops or slows the spread of disease. The greater the proportion of individuals in a community who are immune, the smaller the probability that those who are not immune will come into contact with an infectious individual.Individual immunity can be gained by recovering from an infection or through vaccination. Some individuals cannot become immune due to medical reasons and in this group herd immunity is an important method of protection. Once a certain threshold has been reached, herd immunity gradually eliminates a disease from a population. This elimination, if achieved worldwide, may result in the permanent reduction in the number of infections to zero, called eradication. This method was used for the eradication of smallpox in 1977 and for the regional elimination of other diseases. Herd immunity does not apply to all diseases, just those that are contagious, meaning that they can be transmitted from one individual to another. Tetanus, for example, is infectious but not contagious, so herd immunity does not apply.The term herd immunity was first used in 1923. It was recognized as a naturally occurring phenomenon in the 1930s when it was observed that after a significant number of children had become immune to measles, the number of new infections temporarily decreased, including among susceptible children. Mass vaccination to induce herd immunity has since become common and proved successful in preventing the spread of many infectious diseases. Opposition to vaccination has posed a challenge to herd immunity, allowing preventable diseases to persist in or return to communities that have inadequate vaccination rates.
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