Product Description
"A timely, fair-minded and crisply written account."—New York Times Book Review Vaccine juxtaposes the stories of brilliant scientists with the industry's struggle to produce safe, effective, and profitable vaccines. It focuses on the role of military and medical authority in the introduction of vaccines and looks at why some parents have resisted this authority. Political and social intrigue have often accompanied vaccination—from the divisive introduction of smallpox inoculation in colonial Boston to the 9,000 lawsuits recently filed by parents convinced that vaccines caused their children's autism. With narrative grace and investigative journalism, Arthur Allen reveals a history illuminated by hope and shrouded by controversy, and he sheds new light on changing notions of health, risk, and the common good. .

CUSTOMER REVIEWS (Average Customer Rating: 3.5 based on 25 reviews)

A Biased and Interesting Book by W. G. WHITNEY (St. Albert, Alta, Canada)

2 Stars
August 19, 2009
Arthur Allen freely admits that he is biased in writing this book, calling himself a "vaccine obsessive" and claims that a doctor saved his life from an infection as a child, so he owes a lot to doctors. But he does a good job presenting his side of the issue and the history of vaccines. However, that doesn't mean that he has to demonize anyone who opposes his view and that of established medicine. He could have simply reported the facts for his side of the case, but he chose to slander the opposition whenever he could, for example calling them "mavericks, cure peddlars, slackers, fruitcakes, vaccine shunners, living in a spooky world with a profound misunderstanding of science." He is especially drawn to religious fanatics, mainly Christian, whom he apparently hates. He went out of his way to visit "kooks" wherever he could find them, and then make fun of them. If Allen was a journalist instead of a mere reporter, he would have fairly researched both sides of the controversy. He would have talked to the credible experts opposed to vaccination. You won't find any expert of any stature opposed to vaccination in this book, like Dr. Robert Mendelsohn or Dr. Andrew Saul, just two examples. Vaccine scientists are just a little lower than angels here. The really key issues are avoided,like whether diseases like polio and diptheria went away because of better sanitation and the subsidence of the virus, or because of the vaccine. Polio subsided in Europe without the massive vaccination program used in the US, Why? Another key issue is whether vaccines cause diseases like autism. The unfortunate linking between mercury based thimerasol and autism set the autistic kids up for a fall. As soon as thimerasol is removed from vaccines, the authorities can say "see, that didn't cause it!" The fact is that vaccines contain several ingredients that can freak out a kid's immune system, and babies don't even have a well developed immune system anyway. They include inactivated viruses, nasty chemicals like detergents, mercury, aluminum, etc., occasional live viruses and foreign tissue from the source media (like chicken or monkey cells) The biggest missing issue of all is prevention and an honest cost calculation for vaccines. If vaccines cost $8 each for a cheap vaccine, we can see what the total cost is for the population. It is big bucks. It includes all the time for doctors and nurses in pediatric clinics. But not everyone succumbs to viruses, many avoid them or quickly overcome them. Why isn't Allen curious why this is? He stumbles over the truth on page 340, mentioning that Buttram said that "vitamin C prevents polio" but quickly picks himself up, dusts himself off and stepped around it, as Winston Churchill quipped. Dr. Frederick Klenner cured 60 cases of polio in 1948 with ascorbate (vitamin C)and wrote a medical paper that was presented at an AMA seminar June 10, 1949, but they ignored it. They were looking for a vaccine, not a cure. So, what would the cost comparison be between curing a small number of infected individuals with a perfectly safe, cheap and effective treatment, versus innoculating the entire population and possibly killing a few in the process? Vaccines are money makers for medical staff, even if not for the manufacturers. This is the Achilles heel of the vaccine theory and it urgently needs to be discussed, but you won't find it in this book. W.G. Whitney St. Albert, Alberta, Canada

The world is bigger than America by MomX3 (LA, USA)

2 Stars
May 08, 2009
Research is important when entering the platform of vaccinations. One of the issues is that the research reflect the whole world. In Europe namely France and Germany, vaccinations are given just not 19 to 21 times before the age of 2. Japan uses acellular vaccines. The issue of vaccines is not an emotional issue in Europe. Also medical care is FREE or socialized in most of the EU. So care if injury occurs is not just left up to the parent but the whole country and is not a burden like it is in America. Medical care in America is available if your very old or very rich and the rest just hope for the best. We don't hear of autism in Norway and if you do the best care is provided. Granted that America not the homogeneous blend of people as Norway are but America is a hodge podge of ethnicity's so we are divided by racial politics and so fourth. Another issue is we should not have to sign away our rights when being vaccinated in America but what our health care in America does not provide to the citizens who are injured by vaccination and how they have to prove they were injured before they are compensated. Vaccination is important and necessary but it is not a perfect system and not everyone reacts the same. This book does not provide the whole picture but does provide a good story. Check [...] it's free and does provide articles on vaccination pro and against. Apologies for the grammar and misspellings.

Balanced, high quality evidence, easy to read by Northern reader (Canada)

4 Stars
March 01, 2009
I will state my bias upfront: prior to reading this book, I thought vaccines were a great preventative health tool. However, I also wanted more information from both sides of the debate. I picked this book up because I wanted an opinion that was neither from the medical nor the anti-vaccine establishments... And I was not disappointed. Allen writes a balanced, interesting, easy-to-read examination of vaccines from their conception to now, with many of the successes AND failures along the way. What I appreciated most about the book is that unlike much of the vaccine "information" you will find on the internet, when he claims a point, he backs it up with the reference (52 pages of them in fact) in case you doubt it. He is thorough in his investigation and gives equal "airtime" to both sides of the issue. His conclusions are transparent and well justified. As mentioned in other reviews, the book is split into historical and more current chapters. After reading the first historical chapter, I skipped to the last one and ended up reading the book backwards. I don't think I lost anything that way. So feel free to pick and choose from the chapters as your interests change. Balanced, reliable information on vaccines that I think any parent with questions should review... He debunks a lot of myths with great credibility. I learned a lot.

Tired of Unsupported Opinions by J

1 Stars
February 12, 2009
This author is just another vaccine hack who has no evidence to support his theories and presents nothing but his own opinions that frankly have no credibility. These kind of fear tactics, government regulation, and nonsense is why the vaccine program is falling apart. Why are autism rates in non-vaccinated children around the world non-existent but in the US and UK, the rates are exponential? Why were polio rates on the decline before the vaccine, but the government does not tell anyone that fact? Why do more people die from the flu vaccine than the flu? Why would a pediatrician not give a penicillin shot to every newborn in the world for fear of allergic reaction, but the CDC thinks its okay to stick 48 vaccines in every child and think that some of them will not have an issue? Our entire vaccine program is a joke, and as a parent, please do not listen blindly to this guy or the CDC. They do not have your best interest. Research each vaccine yourself and decide what is best for your children. A better book is "The Vaccine Book" by Dr. Bob Sears. It states the facts of every vaccine and lets you decide instead of the broad stroke approach.

Great Examination of the Issues by CJ (Seattle, WA USA)

5 Stars
April 22, 2008
In approaching this book, I was hoping for an examination of both the medical and cultural history of vaccines, and I was not disappointed. The book starts at the beginning for the US with smallpox vaccination (using very, very crude methods) and works all the way to present day. The book's subtitle portrays the author's attitude perfectly - "The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver" - the author's bias is that sure, there has been considerable controversy over the vaccines, but in the long run they have benefited society and humanity. The book definitely delves into the controversy - approximately the last 200 pages deal with post-1980 society, with extensive discussion of modern day controversies surrounding, and how the cultural and political landscape of the US has changed since World War II and thus changed vaccination. If anything, I wish the author would have discussed more about the earlier anti-vaccine groups, instead of focusing a lot on the recent issues with pertussis and thimerosal. The current anti-vaccine groups do not like this book - just look at the one star reviews. In all fairness, the author does delve into their concerns, interviewing them extensively, and does not treat vaccines like they are the cure-all, but the anti-vaccine groups do come off as being, well, living with different perceptions than the rest of us. So, it's really not for them, but if you want a reasonable look at the facts, this is a good book to pick up.

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