A public health epidemiologist from a very sparsely populated rural county of California was asked to present to the public health advisory board data on students who have not completed all mandated school age vaccinations. The epidemiologist presented student immunization rates comparing the small county to the student immunization rates of California. An advisory board member interrupted the epidemiologist’s presentation by stating the comparisons between the county and State is not valid because the county has a smaller student population than the large state of California. Do you agree or disagree with the advisory board member’s concern? Explain your answer.
