If you have any interest in researching vaccination and immunity, I think this is a good book to read. This book alone will not answer all your questions, but offers a very compelling and well-researched starting point, or continuing point, for the discussion of vaccines. There is a lot of good information in this book, and as a mom who has already researched vaccination extensively, I still have learned a lot from reading this.
At the start of this book, the author introduces herself and how she came to her views on immunizations. Dr. Tetyana Obukhanych has a PhD in immunology and started out excited about vaccines, but as her studies progressed, her views began to change. In the introduction, she explains her reasons for writing this book, and also gives definitions to the terms of immunity, immunology and immunization. Though she comes from a very scientific background, she has written this book in a way that it could be understood by nearly anyone, because she defines many of the scientific terms she uses.
Chapter one is about the history of vaccination, and how the process came about with the first vaccine for smallpox. Dr. Tetyana Obukhanych also explains how this process was flawed from the beginning, and it has remained so ever since. She says that "Every new generation of immunologists is initiated into this illusion and inadvertently takes immunologic research in the direction that is further and further away from understanding the true basis of immunity." Her writing style and logic are very compelling.
Chapter two covers the introduction of vaccination for diphtheria and tetanus, using blood from horses that had been gradually infected with the diseases. This led to "serum sickness" which led to the introduction of formaldehyde into the vaccine. The author goes into further explanation of how vaccination came to be without ever having been properly tested for effectiveness. At the end of this chapter, she asks the question of "why the science of immunology is so resistant to re-evaluation...of its theories?"
In chapter three the author introduces the concept of natural immunity to tetanus, which does not involve or require antibodies to the toxin (a basis of vaccine theory). She explains how the tetanus bacteria work and also the process and conditions required for a tetanus infection to take place. The author explains what the body actually needs (as opposed to anti-toxin antibodies) to gain natural immunity to tetanus.
Chapter four opens with the reasoning that was used to determine tetanus vaccine as "successful," and upon inspection of this reasoning it is clearly flawed. The author goes on to discuss the ineffectiveness of vaccination against tetanus, and potential reasons other than vaccination that cases of tetanus have gone down, as well as a possible treatment for tetanus that was dismissed due to the trial not being randomized. The author uses this example to further question the double standards of immunology.
In the fifth chapter, the author questions the claim that immunologic memory leads to natural immunity. She explains the reason that alum is mixed in to some vaccines. She explains how immunologic memory is achieved in experiments, and also why this is ineffective when the body is exposed to a real pathogen.
Chapter six I found particularly interesting, as it shows how the process of vaccination in the body's immune response resembles not immunity, but allergy. The author describes the stages of allergy and how vaccination may contribute to allergic reactions developing in children. I thought this was a very interesting parallel brought up, and one that I would like to learn more about.
In chapter seven, the author questions the definition of vaccine safety. A vaccine is considered safe if there is a zero chance of causing the virus the vaccine is meant to protect against. However, this definition of safety does not take into account the other adverse effects that vaccination can bring, and the author delves into this dilemma.
While chapter five covered the topic of alum being added to vaccines, chapter eight is on the vaccines that do not require alum, and the flaws behind the theory of their effectiveness. This chapter goes on to describe that unlike natural immunity, vaccine-induced immunity wanes after a few years. Diseases that are mild in childhood then become dangerous in adolescence and adulthood once the vaccine wears off. What were mild childhood diseases are no longer childhood diseases because of this dilemma...they are being pushed into other age groups, and as a result are no longer mild.
Chapter nine explains how vaccination actually eliminates natural immunity. The author describes how vaccinated mothers are less likely to give their infants natural immunity through pregnancy and breastfeeding, whereas naturally immune mothers (mothers who have experienced the disease and overcome it) are more likely to pass on immunity to their infants. The lack of natural immunity in mothers leads to generations of babies without maternal immunity in their earliest and most vulnerable months.
Chapter ten is about the flu shot. As is also mentioned earlier in the book, this chapter describes the difference between antibodies attaching to a protein versus antibodies attaching to a complex particle, how the use of the flu shot can bring about a state in the body called "antigenic sin," and what this does to actually decrease immunity in some ways.
Chapter eleven is titled "Winning Battles but Losing the War." This chapter goes into why vaccines are long-term ineffective for bacterial diseases. A very short but informative chapter.
Chapter twelve is about redefining our views of germs as not being inherently dangerous, but rather, conditionally dangerous, and to take a look at the conditions that cause certain germs to become hazardous to health. Diet and nutrition are addressed here, as well as breastfeeding for infants.
Chapter thirteen is a brief introduction to homeopathy as an alternative to Tylenol. The author also questions the mainstream fear of fever, and gently reminds that fever takes place for a reason.
Chapter fourteen is on making the decision of whether or not to vaccinate your children. What I really love about this chapter is that the author does not simply say "Do not vaccinate your children," but rather poses several questions for the parent to consider about each disease/vaccine before making a decision. The chapter then goes on to address the concept of "herd immunity."
Finally we come to the afterward, in which the author describes why research on immunity is not taking place "outside the box" due to the funding system and how research areas of science are determined. Then the author gives her very thorough appendix/reference guide for further research.
This book is full of links to the studies she references, and is clearly well thought out and researched material. I appreciated the writing style and that I didn't have to pull out a dictionary at any time to understand what the author was trying to convey. There were a few parts that I had to re-read in order to understand the concepts, but in a way that is to be expected with such a complex topic. I found this book to be very well organized and well put together. I think this is an excellent resource for anyone who is for, against, or unsure about vaccines. If you are interested in educating yourself, this is a good book to add to your scope of knowledge, and the book's Appendix offers several suggestions for further reading.
I received a free copy of this book in exchange for my honest review.
