Maurice Hilleman's mother died a day after he was born and his twin sister stillborn. As an adult, he said that he felt he had escaped an appointment with death. He made it his life's work to see that others could do the same. Born into the life of a Montana chicken farmer, Hilleman ran off to the University of Chicago to become a microbiologist, and eventually joined Merck, the pharmaceutical company, to pursue his goal of eliminating childhood disease. Chief among his accomplishments are nine vaccines that practically every child gets, rendering formerly dread diseases—including often devastating ones such as mumps and rubella—practically toothless and nearly forgotten; his measles vaccine alone saves several million lives every year.

Vaccinated is not a biography; Hilleman's experience forms the basis for a rich and lively narrative of two hundred years of medical history, ranging across the globe and throughout time to take in a cast of hundreds, all caught up, intentionally or otherwise, in the story of vaccines. It is an inspiring and triumphant tale, but one with a cautionary aspect, as vaccines come under assault from people blaming vaccines for autism and worse. Paul Offit clearly and compellingly rebuts those arguments, and, by demonstrating how much the work of Hilleman and others has gained for humanity, shows us how much we have to lose.

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 4.0 based on 14 reviews)

A visit to a different world... the US 60 years ago

I love this book. I appreciate the realistic portrayal of Maurice Hilleman and his contemporaries, and how realistic the portrayal of the way vaccines were created in the 1950's, including the fact that the scientists tested out the vaccines on themselves and their families. I think I will always remember the pictures of Hilleman's daughters including the one who had been the host of the mumps virus that her father turned into a vaccine for mumps. It is officially called the Jeryl Lynn mumps strain even today. Hilleman encouraged his daughters to study science.

I also like Dr. Offit's style of writing.
September 06, 2008

Think for YOURSELF! Question EVERYTHING.

One of many books that can be considered backlash as a result of people beginning to think for themselves and say no to govt. forced vaccinations. Unfortunately, it's just easier for the masses to give in and be had...and spoonfed someone else's opinion, rather than think for one's self, do the research and stand up against the bandwagon mentality of conforming to the popular rather than the rational. We live in NJ and trust our child's powerful immune system and our own ability as responsible parents to ensure and teach him proper hygiene, health and nutrition. Follow the money! and you'll uncover the corruption and the conflicts of interests...
June 28, 2008

The author makes millions on vaccine royalties.

Paul Offit is the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine recently recommended for universal use in infants by the CDC. In most places, this can mean vaccination at gunpoint.

Rotavirus should never be a fatal disease, it is spread by feces, like Polio. Dying of rotavirus means that the child was allowed to starve/dehydrate, and is a result of improper diagnoses and care. Most of the diseases that are vaccinated against could simply be prevented by not eating feces. Get that John Q Public? The food you eat pretty much has feces in it, and instead of clean up squalor, the biggest reason disease is much lower today is because of reduced squalor, instead they want to vaccinate (more profitable than cleaning up messes in society.)

Rotavirus - By the age of five, nearly every child in the world has been infected with rotavirus at least once. However, with each infection, immunity develops, subsequent infections are less severe, and adults are rarely affected. There are seven species of this virus, referred to as A, B, C, D, E, F and G. Rotavirus A, the most common, causes more than 90% of infections in humans.

Rotavirus is transmitted by the faecal-oral route.

Not only does Offit offer nothing in the way of solutions for real diseases like cancer, HIV, autism. He is adept at getting the UN and other world government organizations that watch more people killed in Darfur daily than all the people "saved" by a vaccine which "stops" a disease half of everyone by the age of 5 gets and has antibodies for , and is preventable by not eating feces, but he also has sock-puppets review his own books.

People. You've been had. Ever notice how militant vacciners get when you dont get them? If they work so bloody well, whats the big worry if my kids and I get sick and die then? Oh, they come up with excuses & the like. But here is the kicker. Get one of them to simply agree to be self-infected with a bloodstream injection of any of the diseases they claim to be immune against. They wont do it. Most diseases are simply trained to be stronger by the immune systems that have been primed by a vaccine. If its a septic infection or a different, deadlier strain, you'll die, vaccine or not.

In 20 years, vacciners will be like the blood letting barbers of the middle ages. Stupid arcane relics. And diseases will likely be a lot stronger, and any pandemics the vacciners will try and blame on people who refuse. (We people who are free of vaccines will probably survive the pandemic like the Jewish people did by salting the meats during the days of black plague).
June 24, 2008

Vaccinated

This is the GREATEST book! I have bought 5 more for friends & family members. I wish EVERYONE would read this book- especially in this day & age when people are getting more wary of vaccines.
June 15, 2008

True hero

I think it's fair to say, given the population of the world as some 6 billion, that at least 100 million people have heard of Tiger Woods, or Bruce Willis, or Paris Hilton. But how many know of Maurice Hilleman?
The answer is in Offit's book which is about the idea of, the creation of, the development of, the efficacy of, vaccines and vaccinations. He points out that, due to the vaccines developed in the last fifty years, 'hundreds of millions of children' have been saved from death or serious debilitating illness. The vaccines include those against:
measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, pneumococcus, meningococcus, and haemophilus influenza type B (Hib).

Maurice Hilleman was the creator of ALL these vaccines.

Although Offit's book is about vaccines in general, Hilleman, naturally, figures very prominently, and a major part of the book is devoted to him.
Why he is not more well-known is discussed in the text, but why he was never awarded a Nobel Prize is that when he WAS nominated (for his work in interferon research), 'one member of the committee pointed out that the Nobel Prize in medicine would not be given to anyone who worked for a company', and most of Hilleman's professional life was as a very highly regarded employee - but nonetheless, an employee - of Merck.

This is recommended almost as strongly as David Bainbridge's "Beyond the Zonules of Zinn". It may not be as well-written nor as witty, but it is probably more important in telling the story of a hero who willingly allowed himself to be part of the background because of his inherent modesty.

April 27, 2008

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