Hello, Pushkin

a review for the Parent Bloggers network

I don't get people who don't vaccinate their kids. I seriously don't. I remember one woman in our prenatal class was so against any kind of "unnecessary western medicine" that, not only was she not going to vaccinate, she was adamant her newborn not even be given eye drops after the birth (something that's standard procedure in Canadian hospitals). She felt this way even after the midwife warned her that some babies who don't get the drops go blind. Hello??? Blind!!!

To each his own, and whatever, but I just can't imagine personally taking that kind of risk when it comes to my daughter. Even the debate about the possible link between the MMR vaccine and autism (something there's no scientific evidence to support) doesn't dissuade me one bit... not when you weigh the remote risk of a possible connection with the definite dangers of measles, mumps and rubella.

So, there. I've warned you up front. I read the book Vaccinated - One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases (by Paul A. Offit, MD.) with a bias, to say the least.

Still, as pro-vaccine as I am, I was amazed at how much I didn't know. I was surprised to learn that many of the vaccines we give children today were invented relatively recently. Vaccines for measles, mumps, rubella, chickenpox, hepatitis A, hepatitis B, pneumococcus, meningococcus and Haemophilus influenza type b were all invented after the year 1950. I was also surprised to learn that all 9 of them were invented by the same guy: Maurice Hilleman - arguably one of the most important scientists of our time, and a man the majority of people have never heard of (myself included, until I got this book in the mail).

"Before these vaccinations were made, Americans could expect that every year measles would cause severe, fatal pneumonia; rubella would attack unborn babies causing them to go blind or deaf or become mentally retarded; and Hib would infect the brain and spinal cord , killing or disabling thousands of young children. These nine vaccines virtually eliminated all of this suffering and disability and death." - from Vaccinated

To say we all owe the guy a great big "Hey, thanks. Great job," is an understatement. But, unfortunately, we're a little late. He died in 2005 without ever having been properly recognized by the public, the press or the Nobel Prize Committee.

Better late than never though, I figure. So I'm grateful for the chance to have learned about Hillman through this book - a detailed, interesting, sometimes disturbing and other times disgusting look at his work.

Raised on a farm in Montana after being practically orphaned at birth, he harnesed a relentless drive to succeed and became a genius in his field. Through direct quotes from interviews with Hillman as well as commentary from his family and fellow scientists, Offit pieces together a portrait of a man who was as surly and uncompromising as he was kind and brilliant. Hillman was truly a force to be reckoned with, which was a lucky thing, considering he had a lot of roadblocks to overcome in the making of his vaccines.

Aside from describing the processes Hillman used to invent and produce his vaccines, as well as describing the work of other scientists which he built on, the book goes into great detail about the ethical battles Hilleman and other scientist faced. One such controversy had to do with their decision to use cells from an aborted fetus in the creation of vaccines (even though using cells from monkeys, chickens and other animals was proven to be unsafe as they could contain undetectable viruses that could be spread to humans).

I was also astounded to learn about the uphill battle Hilleman sometimes faced to get adequate funding and facilities. You'd think curing the world's deadliest diseases might be considered somewhat of a priority, but apparently not. To treat a military outbreak of Japanese encephalitis virus (JEV) - an infection of the brain which is transmitted by mosquitos - in 1944, Hillman was forced to produce a vaccine in an old barn by putting diseased mouse brains in a leaky cocktail blender. Okay. Ick.

He also faced controversy (understandably) over the testing of vaccines. Many vaccines at the time were tested on institutionalized mentally retarded children. Hilleman rationalized it by pointing out that retarded children, who were confined to institutions, were at greater risk during outbreaks of diseases... "They weren't used for testing because they were expendable, but rather because they were vulnerable." (p. 25). Yeah. It's a little hard to swallow.

But whether or not you agree with his methods (and some of them were, admittedly, harder to agree with than others) you can't deny that Maurice Hilleman had a mission, and a whole lot of stick-to-it-iv-ness. As a result, he saved the lives - and continues to save the lives - of millions of children around the world.

If you're in to science, you'll definitely enjoy this book. If you're not, it's still worth skimming. And the second-last chapter, which deals with the autism debate, is especially relevant. At the very least, you'll gain an appreciation for the work of a true modern hero.