Preventable Infectious Diseases: Rubella

discussion post Our bodies can be infected by a multitude of pathogens, including viruses, bacteria, fungi, protozoa, and parasitic worms. Infections can be spread or transmitted through vectors like insects, contaminated food and water, animals, and, of course, other people. Your immune system acts to protect you from these infections and harmful invaders by recognizing antigens on the invaders and targeting them. The first time the body is exposed to a pathogen, it can take several days for it to generate all the germ-fighting tools it needs to fight the infection, but once your immune system has been exposed to a certain pathogen, it will remember how to fight that pathogen the next time you're exposed to it. This memory provides the body with the ability to respond much more quickly to any repeat exposures. This is how vaccines work.
Vaccines are comprised of weakened or dead antigens. These weakened or dead antigens do not cause an infection, but instead allow your immune system the opportunity to produce antibodies and memory cells so that if your body ever encounters those antigens again, your immune system will have a much faster response time.
There are a multitude of infectious diseases for which vaccines have been created. Select an infectious disease that has a corresponding vaccine and discuss the following:
Whether or not the vaccine is required
Whether or not this particular vaccine would provide protection (herd immunity) to those who cannot be vaccinated (due to age, health conditions, etc.)
How this vaccine might improve overall public health