Simulation for different immunity scenarios

As vaccinations roll out, we work towards herd immunity, there are various challenges to consider along the way. Thomas Wilburn and Richard Harris, reporting for NPR, used simulations to imagine three scenarios: a more infectious variant of the coronavirus, high initial immunity, and low initial immunity.

Since it’s a simulation it of course doesn’t consider every real-life detail of immunity and viral spread, but the animations and the hexagon grids provide a good overhead view.

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Simulation for different immunity scenarios

As vaccinations roll out, we work towards herd immunity, there are various challenges to consider along the way. Thomas Wilburn and Richard Harris, reporting for NPR, used simulations to imagine three scenarios: a more infectious variant of the coronavirus, high initial immunity, and low initial immunity.

Since it’s a simulation it of course doesn’t consider every real-life detail of immunity and viral spread, but the animations and the hexagon grids provide a good overhead view.

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Visual explanation for how herd immunity works

Herd immunity works when you have enough people who are immune to a disease, maybe because they already got it or there’s a vaccine, so that the disease can’t spread anymore to those who don’t have a resistance. For The Washington Post, Harry Stevens is back with simulitis to demonstrate how this works in greater detail.

It starts at the individual level, generalizes to a larger group, and then zooms out to the more concrete state level. It ends with an interactive that lets you test the thresholds yourself.

Each step builds on the previous, which provides clarity to an otherwise abstract idea.

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Just Skin Deep — Your Immune System at the Surface

The skin is the human body’s largest organ. At 1.8 square meters for the average adult, skin covers about as much area as a large closet, and accounts for 12-15% of total body weight. The incredible variation in skin — … Continue reading »

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Why Measles Isn’t Just An Anti-Vaxxer Problem

I have a little metaphor I use with my kid. When he asks why we get shots at the doctor, I remind him of all the super powers he has. One day he got super powers against whooping cough and … Continue reading »

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Immunology paper retracted for inappropriate presentation but “no evidence of intentional misconduct”

A paper in Immnunity has been retracted after two separate panels determined some of the figures “inappropriately presented” the data but cleared the team of wrongdoing. However, the original data are now unavailable, according to the notice, so there’s no way to know if the paper’s conclusions are sound. Here’s the notice for “Suppressors of Cytokine […]