Vaccinated by Paul A Offit M.D.

 

I listened to the unabridged audio version of Vaccinated by Paul A Offit M.D. and narrated by Tim Dixon.

There's a lot, and I mean a lot, of information packed within this nonfiction book. I learned so much by listening to this audiobook. If you're at all interested in learning more about vaccines and medical science, then this is definitely the book for you! 

Vaccinated by Paul A Offit M.D. is part biography of Maurice Hilleman and part history of vaccines and the communicable diseases they were created to help save lives. The science behind vaccines and the various researchers who created these vaccines makes for fascinating reading. The ups and downs of trying to create vaccines to saves lives was also fascinating to read about in Vaccinated as things didn't always go smoothly.

As a side note, before listening to Vaccinated by Paul A Offit M.D., I had no idea who  Maurice Hilleman was. Little did I know that Hilleman "was responsible for developing more than 40 vaccines, including measles, mumps, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, meningitis, pneumonia, Haemophilus influenzae bacteria, and rubella." (NIH National Library of Medicine). Suffice it to say, Maurice Hilleman is not a household name, yet his vaccines have saved countless lives.

Below is the publisher's summary for Vaccinated by Paul A Offit M.D. found on Chirp's website:

Respected physician Paul Offit tells a fascinating story of modern medicine and pays tribute to one of the greatest lifesaving breakthroughs—vaccinations—and the medical hero responsible for developing nine of the big fourteen vaccines which have saved billions of lives worldwide.

Maurice Hilleman’s mother died a day after he was born and his twin sister was stillborn. Believing that he had escaped an appointment with death, he made it his life’s work to see that others could do the same. The fruits of his labors were nine vaccines that practically every child receives, everyday miracles of modern medicine that have eradicated some of the most common—and devastating—diseases, including mumps and rubella.

Offit, a vaccine researcher himself who co-invented the rotavirus vaccine, befriended Hilleman and, during the great man’s final months, interviewed him extensively about his life and career. Those conversations are the heart of Vaccinated. In telling Hilleman’s story, Offit takes us around the globe and across time, from the days of Louis Pasteur, to today, when a childhood vaccine can protect women from cervical cancer and stop a deadly pandemic like Covid-19. Yet these preventative treatments have come under increasing attack from both the left and right, and the anti-vaxxer movement that began with false reports over autism is growing at an alarming rate, threatening society’s well-being, and especially those whose conditions prevent them from being vaccinated.

Offit makes an eloquent and compelling case for Hilleman’s importance, arguing that his name should be as well-known as Jonas Salk. Vaccinated reminds us of the value of vaccines and the power of science to save lives and protect our well-being.

I am giving Vaccinated by Paul A Offit M.D. a rating of 4.5 stars out of 5 stars.

Until my next post, happy reading!!