Vaccination and Immunization: Dangers, Delusions and Alternatives

Rating:
Summary: I found this book to be very informative!
Review: Too often these vaccine book reviews are written by people who are just angry that an author has gone against their popular view on the vaccination issue. This book is a good one even if it does do that. We have freedom of the press in the U.S. and parents deserve the chance to educate themselves on all sides of this issue and this book is a good way to do so. The author does point out that immunization against disease does have some positive virtues in terms of protection, but is concerned that the hazards outweigh these virtues. He specifically says that he is not telling any parents to not immunize their children. He says that he wants parents to be educated about that issue before they make their decision. He wants to get parents involved in making informed decisions about their children's health care. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. Some may cry out that there is a lack of scientific evidence, but the author lists the journals, articles and reports that he used as information sources. Most sources listed are from mainstream medical journals such as the Lancet. If you like to be challenged to think instead of just blindly following the crowd, read this informative book. It will definitely open your eyes to a different way of looking at this issue!

Rating:
Summary: I found this book to be very informative!
Review: Too often these vaccine book reviews are written by people who are just angry that an author has gone against their popular view on the vaccination issue. This book is a good one even if it does do that. We have freedom of the press in the U.S. and parents deserve the chance to educate themselves on all sides of this issue and this book is a good way to do so. The author does point out that immunization against disease does have some positive virtues in terms of protection, but is concerned that the hazards outweigh these virtues. He specifically says that he is not telling any parents to not immunize their children. He says that he wants parents to be educated about that issue before they make their decision. He wants to get parents involved in making informed decisions about their children's health care. This is a good thing, not a bad thing. Some may cry out that there is a lack of scientific evidence, but the author lists the journals, articles and reports that he used as information sources. Most sources listed are from mainstream medical journals such as the Lancet. If you like to be challenged to think instead of just blindly following the crowd, read this informative book. It will definitely open your eyes to a different way of looking at this issue!

Rating:
Summary: Great example of very poor scientific writing
Review: Unfortunately there are too many examples where poor science is translated into a book that raises unfounded concerns. Are there risks with vaccines, yes, of course! However the risk of vaccine preventable disease far far far outweighs the risk of vaccine and there is credible scientific evidence to this effect. This author tries to tie other unexplained illnesses to vaccines where there is no credible scientific evidence. My advice to concerned parents is to look at the Institute of Medicine reports on risks of vaccination. These are the most comprehensive studies done on the issue, difficult reading but at least the science is sound. If you want to see reminders of what life used to be like in the US before vaccines I suggest you travel overseas and see the deaths of children daily to measles, tetanus, polio, rubella and other diseases which are easily preventable. If you had to chose between a 1 in 1000 chance of your child getting paralytic polio naturally or a 1 in 1,000,000 chance of a serious vaccine side effect, which would you chose? The author grossly overstates the risks and forgoes mention of the benefits of vaccination mankind has reaped.