1: An unvaccinated child contracts pertussis. The child comes into contact with 19 other children, all of whom have been vaccinated. The child is very sick, recovers, but no other child contracts the disease.
Example 2: An unvaccinated child contracts pertussis. The child comes into contact with 19 other children, none of whom have been vaccinated. 5 of the other 19 children contract the disease, and pass it on to 5 children each, and so on...an epidemic is started.
Get it now?
I perfectly understand how YOU think it works, I just don't agree.
What exactly would stop the vaccinated children from carrying the virus to other children? Just because they are unsymptomatic because they are immune does not mean they cannot carry and/or spread the pathogen. That is my point.
The vaccinated children have not "contracted" pertussis because their own antibodies destroy the antigen when it is introduced into their system. But a vaccine does not create a giant super secret shield that prevents them from harboring the pathogen in their nose, mouth, on their hands, etc.
I believe in freedom. If you want to vaccinate your children, you should do it. Just don't run that "herd immunity" jive past me in an attempt to bully me into following your prescription.
I could just as easily claim that your insistence on vaccinating against every pathogen you can think of is causing a rash of "superbugs" resistant to any treatment and causing much more severe symptoms than the original disease. Perhaps that is the reason for the resurgence of childhood diseases previously thought of as eradicated?
I have stated this before - microorganisms have been on this earth since the beginning of time and like all living things will find a way to survive. It's possible that your well-intentioned approach to disease prevention is in the long run causing more problems than it solves. But I'm certainly not going to smugly insist that you not vaccinate yourself or your children because of it.
As long as those other children's parents had enough gray matter to have their children vaccinated, they'll have nothing to worry about.
The vaccinated children have not "contracted" pertussis because their own antibodies destroy the antigen when it is introduced into their system. But a vaccine does not create a giant super secret shield that prevents them from harboring the pathogen in their nose, mouth, on their hands, etc.
With your second paragraph, you addressed your own objections brought up in your first paragraph.
Vaccinated people who come into contact with a pathogen kill the pathogen, so will not be spreading it to the unvaccinated.