The case for ring vaccinations with special consideration of oral cholera vaccines

Figures & data

Table 1. Comparison factors for and against mass campaigns or ring vaccination strategy for disease control.

	Mass vaccination campaign	Ring vaccination strategy
Population size	• Up to several hundreds of thousands to millions may be feasible to vaccinate	• May be considered when mass vaccinations of large populations with sporadic occurrence of the disease cannot be carried out
Number of vaccine doses	• Very large numbers required	• Less number of doses required
Logistics and manpower	• Requires short-term intensive effort	• Requires on-going surveillance and response
	• Community engagement essential to maximise participation	• Likely high interest of contacts to participate
Timing in relation to the disease outbreak	• May be conducted at any time but most effective if done early	• Most useful and feasible in the initial phase or during the final stage of an outbreak
Disease	• No special requirements	• Pathognomonic features useful for rapid identification of cases
		• Disease transmission should be containable by a ring response
Outcome	• Protection of the population, regardless of risk level	• Protection of those at highest risk around each case

Figure 1. Schematic diagram of a ring versus mass oral cholera vaccination of a community.