Good Shots: From scare tactics to straight reporting, 2 endorse vaccinations
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Dr. Jonas Salk prepares to draw blood from Arthur Ddonahoo of Washington, Pa. as part of the polio vaccine testing in the early 1950's.
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Scientists understand now better than ever how vaccination works and how to make it safe. Still, whispers among parents spread quickly:
Do vaccines cause autism? Epilepsy? Is there mercury in them? A live virus?
A recent study in Pediatrics reported that 25 percent of parents believe vaccines can cause developmental disorders in children, despite overwhelming evidence to the contrary, Seth Mnookin writes in "The Panic Virus."
It is an angry, hurtful topic to breach. Both sides have devastating anecdotes about sick children and families forever changed. Who can challenge that?
So in many ways, it is brave of Mr. Mnookin, a magazine journalist, and Paul A. Offit, an infectious disease specialist, to tackle the issue, as they do in their new books.
One could easily flounder in the ocean of research, conjecture and anecdote that surrounds the vaccine controversy, surfacing years later a madman or worse.
Mr. Mnookin and Dr. Offit share the same premise: The vast majority of reliable research shows vaccines cannot cause disorders such as autism. They approach their arguments in radically different ways, though, producing works as different as their backgrounds.
To read either book is to receive an education. Both summarize the extensive research done on the issue. Both chronicle the growth of a market behind anti-vaccine advocates; personal injury lawyers and people selling cures for autism make money off vulnerable families, a practice Dr. Offit calls "the cottage industry of false hope." And both outline what Mnookin calls the "vexing paradox" about vaccines:
"The more effective they are, the less necessary they seem," he writes.
But Dr. Offit's book is, as the title suggests, a polemic, often written in the style of a thriller.
"The Panic Virus" is a far broader project, a lively story about bad science, reactive policy and shoddy journalism, told by a curious narrator. While "Deadly Choices" will please a more limited audience -- likely people who already agree with Dr. Offit -- "The Panic Virus" has the potential to entertain and enlighten many.
First Published February 6, 2011 12:00 am
