Customer Reviews

Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases

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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.

Dr. Offits chronology of Maurice Hillemans life is not only interesting because of the remarkable ascent and achievements of this virtually unknown genius, but also because Dr. Offit places the development of vaccines into the context of a world that did not have the resources & knowledge of scientists today.

Because vaccines have been such a success, the general population no longer knows what it is like to live through a genuine pandemic. We no longer see children living in iron lungs, walking the streets with shriveled limbs, etc. Yet, at one point, Polio was a very common disease. Similarly, we learn why so many schools for the deaf and blind have closed - because general vaccination drives have made the diseases that lead to these outcomes exceedingly rare. As a result, Dr. Offit points out that the current trend towards avoiding vaccinations due to unfounded fears will only result in one certainty: More dead, and crippled children.

That is not to say that vaccinations have been an unbridled success from the start. There were issues and outright charlatans then, just as there are now. However, modern science, with its much better reporting, aggregation, and statistical analysis of outcomes has done a fantastic job of minimizing adverse reactions to vaccines, determining cause-and-effect when there were reactions (caused by the vaccine or other unrelated factors). As Dr. Offit illustrates, the certainty with which some parents attribute MMR vaccines to autism issues are simply not supported by the facts; correlation is not causation.

All in all, a very powerful and insightful book written by a courageous man. After all, the autism-was-caused-by-a-vaccine bandwagon has not shown any signs yet of abating. All too understandable, I suppose, when the more likely cause of Autism will be found in the genetics of the parents. It's harder to take ones own blame in a issue than assign it to others.

Many diseases of old have become so rare that people now often fear the vaccine more than the disease itself. This book gives a window into what life was like before the introduction of vaccines as well as the challenges involved in creating them. The book also provides an interesting contrast in terms of how vaccines are developed today versus yesteryear.

While I often speed read books, Offit has an engaging style that kept my eyes glued to every page. If you have interest in history or medicine or just are looking for a book to entertain and educate you, I can highly recommend Vaccinated.

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.

The book is written by a top expert in the field who also developed one of the latest vaccine. And Dr.Offit's writing style is very engaging and yet succint and straight. I am from an engineering background, and I valued the content-to-word ratio(how dense is the content). And Dr.Offit's book beats my yardstick to the ground. It is content heavy yet very engaging. Also Dr.Hilleman's life story spearks for itself too. Salute to Dr. Offit for letting Dr.Hilleman's achievement recognized by more people. Highly recommend.

The good thing about this book is that a layman can read it and be informed. It makes easy reading and you can take this on a vacation and not get stressed trying to figure out what he is saying. I wish the people of US will take Hillman's example and work to make the world a better place and not to make profit for themselves - I guess those days are over

It was important that someone write an account of the works of this man. Offit has done a great job, creating an entertaining, fact-filled read that's clearly written and devoid of flowery prose: the best kind of science writing. By the end you will not only admire Maurice Hilleman's dedication and skill, but also feel embarrassed for not having heard of him before ... true in my case at least.

This book was great. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in learning more about the history of the vaccines that have made an incredibly positive impact on the world. That it was written by someone who understands the process is key. This author has credibility and gives us a well researched, honest and an interesting history.

Please vaccinate your children.

Well written book describing the genesis of the vaccine industry and Maurice Hilleman's often unsung efforts to launch an industry.

VACCINATED: ONE MAN'S QUEST TO DEFEAT THE WORLD'S DEADLIEST DISEASES tells of Maurice Hilleman's early goal and life work: he became a microbiologist, joined Merck, and there pursued his goal of eliminating childhood disease. But VACCINATED is more than just a biography of his life: it uses his life to explore nearly two hundred years of medical history, telling the story of the evolution of vaccines and vaccine research, and rebutting ideas that these vaccines also are responsible for autism and other conditions. It's an eye-opening history perfect not just for medical libraries, but for the general-interest public lending library.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch