Vaccination

Vaccination falls within 2 categories: Fundamental vaccinations and Repeating vaccinations. Fundamental vaccinations are those vaccinations which provide immunity against the most widely spread/most dangerous diseases. These include Hepatitis A, Hepatitis B, Yellow fever, Dengue, Malaria (not yet out but soon), ... Repeating vaccinations are vaccinations for diseases of which a full protection can not be given with a single vaccin dose (thus requiring at least 2 or more dosages; or subsequent dosages troughout the entire lifetime of the patient, eg as in the case with tetanus), aswell as vaccines against diseases that are less common and thus not pose an imminent threat, but still a threat high enough to justify vaccination against it. In the AT-context, the repeating vaccinations will vary depending on where the patient is located, and his profession. For example, AT-engineers that travel to different sites will come in contact with ilnesses only found at these locations, justifying repeating vaccinations against the individual diseases found at all these locations; people that remain stationary at a certain location, or only travel to areas without risk of becoming infected with diseases not included in the standard vaccination packet, will thus require far less vaccinations.

As known, vaccines are available from different companies and have varying charisteristics. In appropriate technology, we only use vaccines that have the best ratio between

1. Duration (eg vaccinations requiring 1 vaccine-dosage are to be preferred over vaccines requiring several vaccine-dosages)
2. Level of protection (the higher, the better)
3. Price

Fundamental vaccinations

Repeating vaccinations

In AT-villages

In AT-villages, the fundamental vaccines are to be given when a applicant for admission into the village has been approved. These vaccins will thus protect the person against that particular disease for his entire life. The repeating vaccinations however, will only be given for as long as the person remains in the AT-village (and thus contributes to the village). When the villager decides to leave the village, the repeating vaccinations are no longer given, meaning that after a while, protection against this disease will be lost for this villager. This method is used as it is the most sustainable one (as the AT-projects need to remain self-sustainable regarding financial costs) and as it is the most practical (villagers that leave the village can no longer be vaccinated by village personnel and should otherwise need to be done by official doctors, who demand greater fees).