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The Vaccine Book: Making the Right Decision for Your Child (Sears Parenting Library) | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert Sears
Publisher: Little, Brown and Company
Category: Book
List Price: $13.99
Buy New: $7.94
You Save: $6.05 (43%)
New (39) Used (11) from $7.88
Rating:  172 reviews
Sales Rank: 195
Media: Paperback
Edition: 1
Pages: 304
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.6
Dimensions (in): 8 x 5.4 x 1
ISBN: 0316017507
Dewey Decimal Number: 614.47083
EAN: 9780316017503
ASIN: 0316017507
Publication Date: October 22, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW
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Product Description
With the recent spate of publicity surrounding the possible health risks posed by childhood immunization, parents are no longer simply following doctor's orders and automatically having their children vaccinated. Instead, they are asking questions. The problem is the search for answers only leads parents to conflicting, one-sided information: doctors claim that parents are endangering their child's life if they refuse shots, while radical vaccine opponents claim parents are endangering their child's life if they accept shots. With THE VACCINE BOOK, parents finally have one, fair, impartial, fact-based resource they can turn to for answers. Each chapter will be devoted to a disease/vaccine pair and offer 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. Ultimately, parents will have to make their own informed decisions as Dr. Bob Sears is neither pro-vaccine nor anti-vaccine. But THE VACCINE BOOK will provide exactly the information parents want and need as they make their way through the vaccination maze.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 45 more reviews...
 Gives parents the info to make their own decisions November 7, 2007
Sue Stuever Battel (Michigan, USA)
126 out of 132 found this review helpful
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.
This book is AWESOME! October 25, 2007
Daniel Kovac (Somewhere in TX)
47 out of 51 found this review helpful
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".
Finally -- the vaccine book I've been looking for! March 21, 2008
Alexis Coxon (Holt, MI, USA)
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
I was SO delighted when this book came out. I've read and enjoyed many of the Sears family's books on pregnancy, childbirth, breastfeeding, etc., and I've always found that their practical, gentle-parenting outlook meshes well with mine. But better yet, I was happy to finally have an up-to-date, balanced book on children's vaccinations.
So much of the information available to parents nowadays is at the far end of the spectrum, either one way or the other: "Shut up and do what the nice doctor tells you" or "All vaccines are bad and will kill your baby." Other books, like Stephanie Cave's, are good but several years out of date.
As a mother of a now 1-year-old, it was a relief to see a book that my concerns about vaccine reactions seriously (especially given how many shots the AAP recommends babies get in their first year), but also addresses my worries about communicable diseases.
Dr. Sears looks at each vaccine and disease separately and addresses: How common is this disease? How dangerous is it? How does the vaccine work? How is it made? What are the ingredients? What are some reasons you should get this vaccine? What are some reasons you shouldn't? He also offers two different vaccine schedules.
Overall, I found this a very well-researched, very balanced look at the vaccine issue. Of course, it's not going to sway people who are convinced that parents who don't get every shot on schedule are terribly irresponsible, or people who think that vaccines are responsible for every modern health problem ... but for those of us in the middle, it's a great reference.
Best book on vaccines I've found January 5, 2008
M. Wade
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
Other reviewers have already said so many wonderful and insightful things about this book, but I still had to add my 5 stars.
Over the last two years, I've read as much on vaccines as I could. The literature selection for lay people was pretty pathetic though, and most of what I read was incredibly biased one way or the other. I don't pick up any of those weird agendas (one way or the other) from Robert Sears' book. It is a forthright, insightful, and informative book. And the author's personality comes through in the writing, so it's not a chore to read.
I also really appreciate that the book is CURRENT. Most of the anti-vaccine literature I read spend considerable time ranting about vaccines that are no longer in use. This book covered the actual, specific vaccines my doctors have been recommending.
The author also manages to give just the right level of detail. While a lot of vaccine literature will tell you that "serioius side effects are rare," this book will almost always tell you what the side effects are and the actual statistics associated with those side effects.
He includes an excellent section on the use of aluminum in vaccines and fears of aluminum toxicity. He also finally explained to me why some people are concerned about using animal tissues in vaccines, and I'm grateful for a better understanding.
I'm so pleased with this book. It is so well done. It's one of those books I'll buy for new parents.
Dr. Bob makes it easy to make an informed decision regarding vaccinations December 10, 2007
R. Pearson (Calif., USA)
5 out of 6 found this review helpful
My husband and I were fortunate enough to hear Dr. Bob speak about Vaccinations in May, a month before our son was born, and many months before his book was released. At his lecture he was very personable, thoroughly answered all questions posed to him, and neither dumbed-down his explanations nor spoke over any heads. All of this is easily translated into his writing style. Reading "The Vaccine Book" feels more like sitting down with a good Dr. that you trust, and who has all the time in the world, and getting frank and impartial answers to your questions.
We recently changed pediatricians and because of "The Vaccine Book" I was able to clearly articulate our vaccination decisions to our new pediatrician. He is very pro-vaccination and was not shy about disagreeing with our choices, but when I was able to easily defend my position and point out ingredients I earned his respect.
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