Customer Reviews

Vaccines: What You Should Know, Third Edition

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(5)

 

 

I find it incredibly ironic that anyone would suggest that Paul Offit offers a biased view of vaccines and BOB SEARS is a good unbiased alternative. I'm a fellow pediatrician practicing in the same community as the Sears clan, and for those not familiar with "Dr. Bob", he's the Glenn Beck of the pediatric world--loud, uninformed, making giant specious arguments based on small outlying inaccurate pieces of minutia without any deep understanding of the topics he's discussing and drawing connections between completely unrelated pieces of information, all with an underlying profit motive at the expense of his smallest and most vulnerable patients. (Yes, there is a small rabid fanbase who worships at his doorstep, but that doesn't make what he preaches any more rational or fact-based.)

Paul Offit does offer a one sided discussion, but the side is science and rationality. Sears, who damned well knows that vaccines are the single safest, most tested and closely regulated product manufactured in the world, has made himself a very wealthy man playing on the fears of parents who deserve honest legitimate information, and takes absolutely no responsibility for the recent local outbreaks first of measles (for which he and the completely discredited Andrew Wakefield were largely responsible) and pertussis (in which his completely irrational "alternate" put-your-kid-at-increased-risk-from-life-threatening-diseases schedules is only one of several factors currently killing babies in San Diego).

If you have an anti-vaccine agenda, lack critical thinking skills and are just looking for someone to reinforce your uninformed preconceived ideas, you will hate Paul Offit. But if you are a parent who is truly wondering what all the noise is about, and whether or not you should be worried about vaccinating your children, and you want the real facts then read Dr. Offit's books. He is the single best source for accurate information on vaccination in this country, and probably in the world. He and his program also make huge amounts of accurate information about vaccines available for free on the Children's Hospital of Philadelphia website--google CHOP Vaccine Education Center. (You want Dr. Bob's schedule? You gotta buy his book.)

And, as is the standard in medicine these days, I will give you my disclaimer: I have no profit involvement in either of these gentlemen, and no personal relationship with Dr. Offit (and only a very casual professional acquaintance with Dr. Sears). I am a pediatrician in private practice with a strong background in, passion for and knowledge of infectious disease and vaccinations whose sole agenda is acting in the best interests of my patients.

I felt compelled to write a review of this wonderful book as the negative reviews are those from people who are all anti-vaccine and think Dr. Offit is only trying to make a buck. This book is well thought out and only reports the facts which are supported by the medical literature. It is a great resource if you really value knowing what the validated evidence about vaccines really is and would like to base your decision on that. My guess is that some of the reviewers here have not even read the book and are just reacting to the fact that it was written by Dr. Offit.

After my sister had 5 children over the past 8 years, one with Asperger's tendencies and two that wound up with cataracts and needing their lenses removed whereas now they need to wear coke-bottle glasses, I became increasingly cautious about vaccines and what reactions they may cause. Previously I was in the health field and never would've questioned them until it hit as close as family. I also have Dr. Sears book, The Vaccine Book. Paul Offit's books were recommended me by my pediatrician. I am not finished reading either book but I was surprised at how helpful I have found Dr. Offit's book. I would recommend this book for any with questions about vaccines. I find it a great resource, presented clearly and written in a fashion that is understandable by the lay person I would say.

Do not believe all those who have written negative reviews of this excellent book. They undoubtedly have a bias against vaccines and are all too young to remember life in the US before vaccines.
For example take polio. The first polio vaccine came out in 1955 and yes one manufacturer made a defective vaccine that caused polio. (The company was Cutter and they have not made vaccines since.) Before the vaccine there were 13,000 to 20,000 cases of polio in the US every year. It could strike anyone including President Franklin Roosevelt. By 1965 there were only 61 cases of paralytic polio in the US. The last case of naturally occurring paralytic polio occurred in the US in 1979. In 2003 the number of cases worldwide was down to just a few hundred.
This book is the 2003 edition and gives essential information for parents about vaccines as well as giving some historical perspective along with potential future vaccines. There is a chapter covering 26 pages that discusses concerns about vaccines.
Paul Offit,MD is a co-author of this book and also an author of the book "breaking the Antibiotic Habit" which get a 5 star review on Amazon as of the date of this review. He is well qualified to comment on vaccines as well as antibiotics as a pediatric infectious disease expert at the Children's Hospital in Philadelphia as well as being an advisor on the CDC panel that makes US vaccine recommendations.
My advice is to look at the book at a library or a store and see if you think it gives a well informed and unbiased account of vaccines before you buy it.

People in the United States now live, on average, more than 30 years longer than they would have just a hundred years ago; 25 years of these 30 extra years that we now enjoy is directly attributable to advances and achievements in public health research and practice...

And, it seems, (at least according to CDC) that vaccination / immunization programs rank among one of the most notable reasons why this is so (see www.cdc.gov/mmwr/preview/mmwrhtml/00056803.htm).

Just before the millennium, a listing of the ten greatest public health achievements of the 20th century was published in the April 2, 1999 edition of Morbidity & Mortality Weekly Report "in order to remind us all of how far we've come, how we got here, and exactly what public health is". These achievements, listed below, were further detailed in a series of articles that followed in MMWR throughout the remainder of 1999. All articles are still available on the CDC website, www.cdc.gov/mmwr.

*******
Ten Great Public Health Achievements - United States, 1900-1999

Vaccination

Motor-vehicle safety

Safer workplaces

Control of infectious diseases

Decline in deaths from coronary heart disease and stroke

Safer and healthier foods

Healthier mothers and babies

Family planning

Fluoridation of drinking water

Recognition of tobacco use as a health hazard

(source: Centers for Disease Control & Prevention, 1999)

It's unbelievable that the description of this book says "get the straight facts" - this guy has a major conflict of interest and has known ties to the vaccine industry (from which he profits as a paid supporter of vaccines and is a vaccine patent holder for rotovirus).

Dr. Paul Offit disclosed that he holds a patent on a rotavirus vaccine and receives grant money from Merck to develop this vaccine. He also disclosed that he is paid by the pharmaceutical industry to travel around the country and teach doctors that vaccines are safe. Dr. Offit is a member of the CDC's advisory committee and voted on three rotavirus issues - including making the recommendation of adding the rotavirus vaccine to the Vaccines for Children's program. (A vaccine that had previously been taken off the market due to excessive negative side effects.)

One can't reasonably expect the author to truly give unbiased information when he profits from the production and sale of the product (yes, vaccines are a product, made by "for profit" pharmaceutical companies.)

Is this really the "objective" and "honest" information you seek? I would think not...

If you look for information about vaccines, you need to read reliable sources.
I really recommend this book as an excellent source of info on a very controversial topic.

A clear and plain explaination of how vaccines work the disease they prevent and the risks/benfits of vaccines

***Consumer Warning*** Since the neither publishers of the book nor Offit will disclose this information (and it is an ethical violation not to), potential readers should know:

Paul Offit is a paid consultant for the pharmaceutical companies which produce the vaccines discussed in this book. Offit is also a vaccine patent holder and has used his position on our national vaccine advisory board to vote in favor of adopting vaccines for national use in which he has a direct financial interest.

Most importantly, Offit is one of the patent holders of the infamous RotaShield vaccine, which had to be recalled in 1999 (after less than a year on the market) for causing intersussception in children. Intersussception is a dangerous, painful condition in which the intestines telescope in on themselves. Offit's vaccine caused children to undergo emergency surgery and, according to some reports, to die.

Apparently parents are supposed to be able to sleep better at night because
a medical doctor, who is a patent holder on childhood vaccines and a vaccine
manufacturer consultant, has pronounced that vaccine additives, like mercury
and aluminum, are perfectly "safe." The scientifically illogical premise,
for example, that aluminum has been proven safe because it has been injected
into hundreds of millions of people for the past 70 years, is just one
example of how shallow this doctor's arguments are in the face of hundreds
of millions of chronically ill children and adults around the world who have
received these vaccines.
(www.nvic.org)