For the bookshelf: Vaccine by Arthur Allen

A new book released this month is sure to be of interest to readers of this site: Vaccine: The Controversial Story of Medicine's Greatest Lifesaver by Arthur Allen. Allen is a journalist who has written frequently in the popular press on vaccine-related issues. We haven't yet read the book, so we can't vouch for its merits, but all accounts point to it being a comprehensive work (as any 500+ page book is likely to be) tracing the history of vaccination from Jenner to today.

Allen has published vaccine-related essays in several publications this month, providing well-timed promotion for his book. On January 15, Allen wrote a piece for Slate titled "The Autism Numbers: Why There's No Epidemic" that looks broadly at the rise in autism rates in recent years, including the alleged link to vaccines.

Last Thursday, Allen had an op-ed published in the New York Times titled "For the Good of the Herd," a strong defense of the merits of vaccination framed by some of the major events (both good and bad) of U.S. vaccination programs in the 20th century. By the end of the op-ed, there's little doubt that Allen is a strong proponent of vaccination. He writes:

"But the experts are certain that it is only a matter of time before a flu pandemic strikes. Keeping the vaccine pipeline running and building immunity against all types of flu will help us prepare. Even in apparently humdrum flu years like this one, it behooves us to join the herd and be vaccinated."

Finally, the book's website, www.vaccinecontroversy.com, includes an extended essay by the author with his take on "how to think about vaccination."

Update, 2/6/06: In this weekend's New York Times, David Oshinsky gave the book a quite favorable review.