A few months ago, I wrote a piece called "Ethics of the Flu Vaccine Shortage: What Would Network Science Do?" where I conjectured that the distribution of flu vaccine was hosed, not just because of scarcity, but because we were doling it out to those at high risk as opposed to those most likely to distribute the disease: the supernodes. Shortly thereafter, I wrote "More on Flu Vaccination: Kids are the Supernodes" a few days later, where some evidence emerged in Japan that suggested that the supernodes in flu epidemics are not barristas, doctors, nurses, or bus drivers, but grade school children.

New evidence has emerged to support this theory in a report being published in today's American Journal of Epidemiology:

[from USA Today]

"By vaccinating at least of 70% of the schoolchildren, you can pretty much reduce transmission to the whole community," says Ira Longini, a biostatistics professor at Emory's Rollins School of Public Health.

So, next year, when the stupidity starts up again, remember that we really need to apply network science to the flu vaccine problem, not a bunch of outmoded ethics. We shouldn't willy-nilly vaccinate the elderly, but only the highest risk cases. While it turns out that we need to vacinate the kids, we aren't motivated by "women and children" stupidity. We need to vaccinate them because that's the only way to end the epidemic spreading. Stop the madness!

And of course, this is a story buried on page 8D of the Life section, lost in the television listings, not above the crease on page one where it could potentially make a difference.