This week, there is an example in Virginia of the ways in which a concentrated number of deliberately unvaccinated children can effect (or infect, depending on your perspective) the health of an entire region: Earlier today, The Roanoke Times reported that the Blue Mountain School, an "alternative" private school in Floyd County, had to shut down for a full week after twenty-three of its forty-five students came down with pertussis. According to the Times, every single one of those children was unvaccinated. The school's administrator, Shelly Emmett, was quoted as saying, "Many of the families and staff at our school understand that some people choose not to vaccinate their children. We're not requiring that they do."