As the density of human and domestic animal populations increases, the threat of localized epidemics and global pandemics grows. Although effective vaccines have been developed for a number of threatening pathogens, manufacturing and disseminating vaccines in the face of a rapidly spreading epidemic or pandemic remains a formidable challenge. One potentially powerful solution to this problem is the use of transmissible vaccines. Transmissible vaccines are capable of spreading from one individual to another and are currently being developed for a range of infectious diseases. Here we develop and analyze mathematical models that allow us to quantify the benefits of vaccine transmission in the face of an imminent or ongoing epidemic. Our results demonstrate that even a small amount of vaccine transmission can greatly increase the rate at which a naïve host population can be protected against an anticipated epidemic and substantially reduce the size of unanticipated epidemics if vaccination is initiated shortly after pathogen detection. In addition, our results identify key biological properties and implementation practices that maximize the impact of vaccine transmission on infectious disease.
This research output has an Altmetric Attention Score of 55. This is our high-level measure of the quality and quantity of online attention that it has received. This Attention Score, as well as the ranking and number of research outputs shown below, was calculated when the research output was last mentioned on 07 May 2025.
All research outputs
#975,095
of 34,302,672 outputs
Outputs from PLOS ONE
#11,720
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Outputs of similar age
#16,267
of 370,779 outputs
Outputs of similar age from PLOS ONE
#209
of 3,620 outputs
Altmetric has tracked 34,302,672 research outputs across all sources so far. Compared to these this one has done particularly well and is in the 97th percentile: it's in the top 5% of all research outputs ever tracked by Altmetric.
So far Altmetric has tracked 224,225 research outputs from this source. They typically receive a lot more attention than average, with a mean Attention Score of 17.1. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its peers.
Older research outputs will score higher simply because they've had more time to accumulate mentions. To account for age we can compare this Altmetric Attention Score to the 370,779 tracked outputs that were published within six weeks on either side of this one in any source. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 95% of its contemporaries.
We're also able to compare this research output to 3,620 others from the same source and published within six weeks on either side of this one. This one has done particularly well, scoring higher than 94% of its contemporaries.
