What is herd immunity? Will it be able to save India from Covid-19?

Team Udayavani, May 17, 2020, 2:43 PM IST

The number of positive cases of the Covid-19 infection is on the rise and every now and then the term ‘herd immunity’ has been used by experts around the world

Herd immunity happens when so many people in a community become immune to an infectious disease which stops the disease from spreading. It can either be through vaccination or immunity developed through previous infection.

It is said that more infectious the disease, the greater the population immunity needed to ensure herd immunity. Covid-19 has a lower infection rate than measles which means that herd immunity should be achieved when around 60% of the population becomes immune to Covid-19.

However, a few experts believe it is  neither effective against the novel coronavirus nor a viable option for a country like India

In India, herd immunity may be dangerous leading to increased hospitalizations that overwhelm the health system and eventually cause a high number of deaths.

Experts don’t know a lot about Covid-19 immunity, especially how long immunity lasts, what kind of protection it offers, and whether reinfection is possible.

Also, herd immunity is being recommended for India on the assumption that since the country has a large young population. But, some of them will either have a severe reaction to Covid-19 or may have dangerous underlying conditions and risk factors that could lead to severe complications and death if infected with Covid-19 as 40 percent of Indian adults aged 45-54 and 22 percent of those aged 20-44 have hypertension, nearly 4 percent of adults aged 15-44 years have reported Type 2 diabetes.

However, experts suggest that government should focus more on isolation and testing to prevent the spread of virus.