On: The Vaccination Effect: 100 Million Cases of Contagious Disease Prevented

[fnordfnordfnord]

>That small probability is largely because of vaccination.

That's true. But I suspect that better sanitation and nutrition played a large part as well.

>so your analysis is correct for the individual, while still badly wrong for society as a whole.

I know. Which is why it is important to have safe and effective vaccines.

[ceejayoz → fnordfnordfnord]

> That's true. But I suspect that better sanitation and nutrition played a large part as well.

Not in every case. Polio, for example, became a more serious problem because of sanitation. http://www.pbs.org/wgbh/rxforsurvival/series/diseases/polio....

[fnordfnordfnord → ceejayoz]

Thanks. I didn't know that.