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The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child (Sears Parenting Library) [Paperback]

Robert W. Sears
4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (447 customer reviews)

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Book Description

October 26, 2011 Sears Parenting Library
THE VACCINE BOOK offers parents a fair, impartial, fact-based resource from the most trusted name in pediatrics. Dr. Bob devotes each chapter in the book to a disease/vaccine pair and offers a comprehensive discussion of what the disease is, how common or rare it is, how serious or harmless it is, the ingredients of the vaccine, and any possible side effects from the vaccine. This completely revised edition offers

· updated information on each vaccine and disease

· more detail on vaccines' side effects

· expanded discussions of combination vaccines

· a new section on adult vaccines

· additional options for alternative vaccine schedules

· a guide to Canadian vaccinations

THE VACCINE BOOK provides exactly the information parents want and need as they make their way through the vaccination maze.

Frequently Bought Together

The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child (Sears Parenting Library) + The Baby Book, Revised Edition: Everything You Need to Know About Your Baby from Birth to Age Two (Sears Parenting Library) + The Portable Pediatrician: Everything You Need to Know About Your Child's Health
Price for all three: $34.99

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Sears, coauthor of several books in the Sears Parenting series, addresses one of today's most controversial and worrisome questions. Sears' goal is "to give you a balanced look at pros and cons of vaccination so that you can make an educated decision." Sears does not advocate for or rail against vaccination, stating it doesn't have to be an all or nothing decision-there are choices. The first 12 chapters discuss each vaccination in the childhood series, providing explanation of the relative disease, how the vaccine is made and points to assess a child's at-risk level when considering if the vaccine is necessary. Sears does offer guidance for those who are indecisive, offering his opinion based on clinical experience and 13 years of research taken from product inserts, pediatric reference books, articles and databases. Additional chapters illuminate more controversial aspects of the debate, such as how vaccine safety is researched and what the findings are, side effects and how to minimize them, common myths and questions. As always, Sears' tone puts readers at ease as he clearly explains medical terms and elucidates debates.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Review

An exhaustively researched guidebook. (Newsday )

It's the most evenhanded and thorough look at baby immunizations we've yet seen. (Babytalk ) --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

  • Paperback: 352 pages
  • Publisher: Little, Brown and Company; Rev Upd edition (October 26, 2011)
  • Language: English
  • ISBN-10: 0316180521
  • ISBN-13: 978-0316180528
  • Product Dimensions: 5.5 x 1 x 8.2 inches
  • Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
  • Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (447 customer reviews)
  • Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,018 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Robert W. Sears, MD, is a father of three, board-certified in Pediatrics, and a co-author in the Sears Parenting Library. "Dr. Bob", as he likes to be called by his little patients, earned his medical degree at Georgetown University School of Medicine in 1995. He did his pediatric internship and residency at Children's Hospital Los Angeles, finishing in 1998. Dr. Bob is the proud father of three active boys, Andrew, age 15, Alex, age 12, and Joshua age 6. He and his wife, Cheryl, reside in Dana Point, CA. In his spare time Dr. Bob enjoys surfing the California waves, mountain biking, playing bass guitar with his teenage son guitarist, and trying to keep up with his three children.

Dr. Bob enjoys a very unique approach to pediatrics by providing a combination of alternative and traditional medical care. He has a passion for healthy natural living and incorporates this knowledge into a style of disease treatment and prevention that you won't find in most doctors offices. By limiting antibiotic use, using science-based natural treatment approaches whenever possible, and focusing on good nutrition and immune system health, Dr. Bob takes preventative medicine to a whole new level. His commitment to breastfeeding success for all his patients also helps babies get a right start in life.

Dr. Bob has a particular passion for helping parents understand childhood vaccines and the options open to them in choosing the safest possible vaccine schedule for their child. As the solo author of The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child, his in-depth knowledge of vaccines and the diseases they prevent has helped parents nationwide get a better understanding of this complex and confusing issue.

Having had the privilege to help raise three active boys, Dr. Bob has grown fond of the "parenting" side of pediatrics. He especially enjoys talking to parents in his practice about the joys, and trials, of watching their little babies and toddlers thrive through the first several years of life.

Dr. Bob is committed to enjoying a slow-paced, casual atmosphere in the office, providing long checkups, giving parents the flexibility to ask for house calls at home when needed and being one of the very few Orange County pediatricians to be available after hours, overnight, and on weekends for phone calls and home visits. Because he is not contracted with any insurance companies he is able to focus his attention 100% on just being a doctor without having to worry about the business side of running an insurance-based office. His patients take care of billing their own insurance themselves and find that once they learn the process it is very easy.

Dr. Bob has appeared on the Dr. Phil show to offer advice on child behavior and parenting issues. He has also appeared on the Ellen DeGeneris show, CNN's House Calls with Dr. Sanjay Gupta, the CBS Early Show, and PBS's "A Place of Our Own".

Dr. Bob is a frequent speaker at La Leche League conferences, including Colorado, Texas, Ohio, North Carolina, California/Nevada and the International LLL Conference 2007 as well as various parenting health Expos. He has written for Contemporary Pediatrics, Newsweek Japan, and dozen's of regional parenting magazines across the nation. Dr. Bob is co-author of The Updated Baby Book, The Premature Baby Book, The Baby Sleep Book 2005 and Father's First Steps: 25 Things Every New Dad Should Know and author of The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for your Child and an active contributor to the content of AskDrSears.com and several other parenting websites. He is also a regular contributor to Working Mother magazine.


Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews
343 of 365 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars Gives parents the info to make their own decisions November 6, 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
As soon as I heard Dr. Bob Sears would be releasing a book to help parents make vaccine decisions, I pre-ordered it and waited two months for it to be published and arrive on my doorstep.

The Vaccine Book was well worth the wait. Finally, I was able to read detailed information about each vaccine choice available for my children. Dr. Sears thoroughly investigates all the options and lays them on the table for parents to decide. I worried that this approach might be a little wishy washy and leave me with more questions than answers, but he manages to get everything out there.

I've read plenty of pro-vax and no-vax literature. Most is either staunchly against any immunizations or suggests that parents should ask no questions and just do what the nice doctor says. There are even a few things written somewhere in between, in which the authors present their recommendations. It's hard to find something that presents all the facts so parents can make educated decisions. This book did it for me.

The Vaccine Book is very readable. Dr. Sears writes in language a layperson like me can easily understand. His conversational style makes it feel like he's sitting and talking to me. He's even a little funny at times. I especially enjoy his use of Star Trek wisdom (p. 220).

He goes through each of the 12 standard vaccine choices and answers the same questions for each vaccine-preventable disease: Is it common? Is it serious? Is it treatable? When is the vaccine given? How is the vaccine made? What ingredients are in the final solution? (Including "Are any of these ingredients controversial?") What are the side effects? Should you give your baby this vaccine? (Includes reasons to get it, reasons some people choose not to, travel considerations, and options to consider when getting it.) He ends each chapter with "The way I see it" summarizing key factors, yet he does not send a message that parents must do it one way or another. He covers special vaccines for travel and combination vaccines that reduce the number of shots given. There's a chapter for parents who decide to delay or decline vaccinations and one called "What Should I Do Now?" He offers Dr. Bob's Alternative Vaccine Schedule near the end of the book. It ends with 20 pages of additional resources in which he summarizes journal articles.

Reading The Vaccine Book left me confident I could make the right vaccination decisions for each of my children.

And a big plus for me: He recognizes breastfeeding as a way to reduce disease risk. On his list of eight ways to boost your child's immune system, "breastfeed" is No. 1.

The web site www.thevaccinebook.com promises online updates to the book as vaccines and data change. There's also a forum, blog and other resources.
Was this review helpful to you?
104 of 119 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars This book is AWESOME! October 25, 2007
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I got this book in the mail yesterday and have already finished it. It's great! For each disease, Dr. Sears lists the following questions: What is this disease? Is it common? Is it serious? Is it treatable? When is the vaccine given? How is it made? What ingredients are in the final solution? Are any of these ingredients controversial? What are the side effects? He then lists the reasons to get the vaccine, the reasons NOT to get the vaccine, travel considerations and his own opinion. These are exactly the questions that I wanted answered.

I would say that Dr. Sears is pro-vaccination, but also for a selective/separated vaccination schedule. He provides such a schedule in his book. He also discusses the controversies surrounding some of the ingredients in the vaccines, namely aluminum and human/animal tissues. This section will make any parent pause and question whether they really want these things injected into their child. He drew his information from the medical literature (or lack thereof in some cases). He provides a detailed "Resource" section at the end of the book so that you can pull all of his journal article, if you so choose.

Overall, this book was informative and well-balanced. Dr Sears does not go into great depth with each vaccine, which makes the book light reading, especially for a book on vaccinations. If you would like a more in-depth analysis, I would recommend Aviva Jill Romm's book "Vaccinations: A Thoughtful Parents Guide".
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143 of 167 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
I really liked this book. It is written by a mainstream, famous medical doctor. He's the darling of La Leche League, has written several books, and been on TV. He provides a lot of good research as to why we don't need to follow the traditional vaccine schedule.

Chapter 1-A note to fellow physicians
He says "we receive little information on vaccines, other than that they are safe and effective..." He also says that a number of pediatricians have dismissed families who won't vaccinate, and that goes against what the American Academy of Pediatricians says a doctor should do. Instead, continued refusal to vaccinate after adequate discussion should be respected, and doctors should avoid dismissing patients from their practice simply because they don't vaccinate.

I don't like the order he uses to discuss each vaccine. If I were doing it, I would have gone in the order the vaccines are given. I have no idea how he chose his order. But chapter 2 is about the HIB.

Chapter 2-haemophilus influenzae type B and the HIB vaccine

Haemophilus influenzae type B is a bacterium that normally remains in the nose, ears or throat and only causes cold symptoms. Only rarely does it invade further into the body, but it can on occasion and has been know to cause serious illness such as meningitis, blood infections, bone infections and pneumonia. There are only about 25 serious cases a year today, although in the `80s there were about 200,000 cases per year. Of the serious cases there is about a 5% fatality rate and in 25% of the cases there is residual brain damage. A serious infection is rare beyond age 3. It is treated with intravenous antibiotics.

In vaccine trials more babies who received the vaccine caught a serious infection than the unvaccinated.

Dr. Sears also points out that a breastfed baby that does not go to day care is at particularly low risk of contracting this illness.

He says on page 11 that to be get protection from a vaccine, for instance in the case of travel, you need to have it 3 months prior to the event.

Some versions of the HIB have aluminum as high as 1500 micrograms. He discusses aluminum in great detail later. He points out on page 195 that a toxic dose of aluminum for a newborn can be as low as 10 to 20 micrograms.

Unfortunately, even given all this information, he still recommends this particular vaccine, which I disagree with.

This is just a synopsis of 2 chapters, there are 17 others, most of them with loads of good information. There are several vaccines that he does not think are necessary and he provides detailed insight into why. I do recommend you read this book, but don't just blindly follow his advice. Look at the facts yourself before you decide if the risk is worth it.

If you are interested in the vaccine debate, I also recommend Vaccines: What CDC Documents and Science Reveal. It is an excellent DVD created by a mainstream ER doctor who stumbled across the vaccine debate, and became obsessed with it. I like it because there are some people who simply won't take the time to read a book on vaccines, but they will watch a DVD. Hopefully, you will do both.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars So Helpful
I absolutely love this book and have been using it since my daughter was a newborn. She is now 4, and I've loaned this out and recommended it to so many friends. I think Dr. Read more
Published 2 days ago by Smileysisa
5.0 out of 5 stars Best non bias book on the market
Really gives you the insight every parent needs to make an educated decision about immunizations. I have kaiser and was worried about their response to my alternate schedule, but... Read more
Published 2 days ago by contessa rogers
5.0 out of 5 stars HIGHLY RECOMMEND!!
Finally, a doctor that UNDERSTANDS parents concerns and breaks down the facts!

Before I had my baby I spent months on end reading various articles/books regarding... Read more
Published 3 days ago by Katrina
5.0 out of 5 stars Not for not against, just information
This book was great. My husband and I had a lot of questions when had our son. Vaccinate or not, after we bought this book we felt very confident in the decisions we made.
Published 11 days ago by Loretta Shunamon
5.0 out of 5 stars Best Aid to Deciding on Vaccines
I bought this book, as a reference, after researching the pros and cons of vaccination. This book offers a GREAT view on what exactly vaccines are. Read more
Published 12 days ago by MrsHJM3
5.0 out of 5 stars Thorough, yet Concise
Great book to help parents become educated on vaccines. I am an RN, and this book was detailed enough for me to feel like it wsa worth the read, but easy enough for any parent to... Read more
Published 13 days ago by Ashley Stroud
5.0 out of 5 stars would recommend!
full of information on vaccines! it talks about all the shot the kids get and what is in the shot- makes you think twice about what we ignorantly inject into our kids
Published 18 days ago by Brenda
4.0 out of 5 stars very informative and neutral
It gave us reasons to decide well. Although it only has vaccines for the US, it can be a guide for anyone doubting about what to do on vaccines... We decided not.
Published 18 days ago by Felipe Neira Ochoa
5.0 out of 5 stars Vaccines schedules are in this book
Love this, it's like a pocket guide when you interview a new ped. Vaccines schedules are in this book, so bring it with copy it take notes right at the doctors office so you are... Read more
Published 18 days ago by Joni
5.0 out of 5 stars Finally an unbiased opinion
I have really been struggling with the decision to vaccinate, not vaccinate or do a selective alternate schedule. Although Dr. Read more
Published 18 days ago by R. Alexeev
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