Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #76 in Books
• Published on: 2007-10-22
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 304 pages

From Publishers Weekly
Sears, coauthor of several books in the Sears Parenting series, addresses one of today's most controversial and worrisome questions. Sears' goal is "to give you a balanced look at pros and cons of vaccination so that you can make an educated decision." Sears does not advocate for or rail against vaccination, stating it doesn't have to be an all or nothing decision-there are choices. The first 12 chapters discuss each vaccination in the childhood series, providing explanation of the relative disease, how the vaccine is made and points to assess a child's at-risk level when considering if the vaccine is necessary. Sears does offer guidance for those who are indecisive, offering his opinion based on clinical experience and 13 years of research taken from product inserts, pediatric reference books, articles and databases. Additional chapters illuminate more controversial aspects of the debate, such as how vaccine safety is researched and what the findings are, side effects and how to minimize them, common myths and questions. As always, Sears' tone puts readers at ease as he clearly explains medical terms and elucidates debates.
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Review
Babytalk : It's the most evenhanded and thorough look at baby immunizations we've yet seen.

Newsday : An exhaustively researched guidebook.

About the Author
Robert W. Sears, MD, is a board-certified pediatrician in practice with his father, William Sears, MD, and the coauthor of several books in the Sears Parenting Library. He lives in Capistrano Beach, California.

Customer Reviews

Assigned reading by my patients
I have several families in my pediatric practice who have altered the schedule of their children's vaccinations. A couple of them read this book and asked me to review it. Overall, I think it's well written, and there is plenty of information I learned from Dr. Sears. I do think that the most salient detail of the book is regarding aluminum, and it unintentionally casts a light of skepticism on aluminum. Perhaps ten years down the road, we will determine that subcutaneous or intramuscular exposure to aluminum is harmless. But in the process of finding out, many families will likely suffer from preventable illness. I don't think Dr. Sears wanted this to be an outcome of the book, but I have witnessed some families making risky decisions based on their readings. I'm happy to report that my practice is on track to take the very measures he recommends, because it is important to reduce ANY exposures we artificially create for our children. It's hard for any vaccine book marketed to families to keep from creating a culture of fear and distrust of doctors. However, as a pediatrician, I've found that the most reliable source of information to be the American Academy of Pediatrics. I am, of course, professionally biased. But isn't that the point. I would recommend the book to interested physicians, but I would recommend parents to read literature endorsed by the AAP first.

Grandfather's Review
Outstanding!! I bought eight copies for my grown children and friends to protect their children.

Must have for all parents!
This is a great un-biased book about vaccines. It tells you ingredients, side effects, and how to safely give the vaccines. I think it is a must have for all parents or parents to be.

You must be informed of all vaccinations, and what is in them, and what is necessary (HiB) and NOT necessary (Hep A & B? Come on). Plus knowing should consider delaying shots until at least 6 months of age to let the babies develop an immnune system, then doing ONE at a time. I

I learned a lot from this book. As a medical professional, I think this book does a good job at presenting the facts with a fair and factual position, and lets us know what we don't always have time to find out about vaccines and the controversy about them.