The Facts, the Fears, the Future
'Vaccination' argues that vaccines, especially those developed to protect against childhood diseases, are both effective and safe.
Concerned at the lack of hard scientific data used - by both sides - in vaccination debates, immunologists Gordon Ada and David Isaacs set about presenting the facts on vaccines as we currently know them. They trace the history of immunisation, explain the science of vaccinations, and analyse the efficacy and safety of those vaccines currently available to us. Though their approach is pro-vaccination the authors also discuss the associated risks and the concerns of the anti-vaccination lobbyists.
Recent developments in vaccination research are described and the authors speculate on the very real prospects of vaccines for non-communicable diseases such as cancer, arthritis and diabetes. An optimistic view is taken that effective vaccines will also be developed for infectious diseases for which no vaccines exist at the moment, including malaria and HIV.
