Plos One: Multiracial societies are more likely to produce group immunity

November 1, 2020 /--- in the rapidly spreading coronavirus pandemic, the majority of the population will be able to achieve mass immunization.
when this threshold is reached is usually based on a model that assumes that all individuals in the population are the same.
researchers at the Max Planck Institute for Complex Systems Physics in Lesun, Germany, used a new model to show that group immunity can be achieved at lower thresholds if some people are more susceptible to infection than others.
most epidemics weaken before most populations are infected.
exactly determines this turning point and the extent of the epidemic, it is not clear.
epidemiological models are based on the assumption that the individuals in the population are essentially the same.
, however, in the actual population, everyone is different.
, for example, because of a more effective immune system or better hygiene, some people are less likely to be infected after contact with an infected person.
(Photo: www.pixabay.com) A team led by Frank Jülicher of the Max Planck Institute for Complex Systems Physics is studying the effects of this heterogeneity on the spread of the epidemic.
when an individual is sensitive to infection, the first infection is most susceptible to infection.
this led to a rapid increase in the number of infections at the beginning of the epidemic.
, however, this highly susceptible population will soon become immune or die.
, the average susceptivity to the virus decreases among unsoptive populations.
this slows the rate of infection in the epidemic, the threshold for group immunization may be lower than previously assumed.
, even if only a few people are immunized, multiple groups can achieve group immunization.
, in a single population, group immunization can only be achieved if the majority of the population is immunized.
based on the Dresden researchers' model, different situations may produce seemingly identical epidemiological processes.
specifically, two epidemics with varying degrees of heterogeneity and effectiveness of mitigation measures may have the same time-to-time for reporting infection.
only a significant proportion of people in a single ethnic group are immunized, thus affecting the infection rate.
, the early decline in infection rates can only be explained by other factors, such as containment measures.
, the risk of infection is significantly reduced for populations of multiple groups, even if only a small percentage of the population is immunized.
(bioon.com) Source: Heterogeneous populations develop herd immunity quicker Source: Jonas Neipel et al. Power-law people heterogeneity governss waves, PLOS ONE (2020). DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239678