In 2009, I looked at the news, and decided that a one in eight chance that I had been infected with H1N1 flu and fought it off without knowing it -- either thinking it was something else, or not realizing I'd been infected at all -- wasn't good enough, and went out and got the vaccine.
That 1/8 was an epidemiological estimate for New York City, one of the first places that virus was detected. Even if herd immunity worked for the flu, you would need more than an eighth of the population to be immune, for any virus.
(One downside of living in New York was that a lot of viruses turn up there earlier than in most of the US--including AIDS and West Nile as well as HIV. The city has a good health department, and needs it.)
(no subject)
That 1/8 was an epidemiological estimate for New York City, one of the first places that virus was detected. Even if herd immunity worked for the flu, you would need more than an eighth of the population to be immune, for any virus.
(One downside of living in New York was that a lot of viruses turn up there earlier than in most of the US--including AIDS and West Nile as well as HIV. The city has a good health department, and needs it.)