|
Showing 1 - 2 of
2 matches in All Departments
This first comprehensive history of the social and political
aspects of vaccination in the United States tells the story of how
vaccination became a widely accepted public health measure over the
course of the twentieth century. One hundred years ago, just a
handful of vaccines existed, and only one, for smallpox, was widely
used. Today more than two dozen vaccines are in use, fourteen of
which are universally recommended for children. "State of Immunity
"examines the strategies that health officials have used--ranging
from advertising and public relations campaigns to laws requiring
children to be immunized before they can attend school--to gain
public acceptance of vaccines. Like any medical intervention,
vaccination carries a small risk of adverse reactions. But unlike
other procedures, it is performed on healthy people, most commonly
children, and has been mandated by law. Vaccination thus poses
unique ethical, political, and legal questions.
James Colgrove considers how individual liberty should be balanced
against the need to protect the common welfare, how experts should
act in the face of incomplete or inconsistent scientific
information, and how the public should be involved in these
decisions. A well-researched, intelligent, and balanced look at a
timely topic, this book explores these issues through a vivid
historical narrative that offers new insights into the past,
present, and future of vaccination.
"This is a stunning book--comprehensive and perceptive. "Searching
Eyes: Privacy, the State, and Disease Surveillance in America" is a
major achievement in interdisciplinary scholarship and historical
interpretation, and will remain the definitive work on this
important subject for many years to come."--Theodore M. Brown,
Ph.D., Professor of History, Community and Preventive Medicine, and
Medical Humanities, University of Rochester
"A landmark in the history and ethics of public health.
Meticulously researched, it provides the first overarching account
of the evolution of public health surveillance in the United
States, from the debates over tuberculosis and venereal disease at
the start of the 20th century to the tensions over AIDS and
bioterrorism at century's end. Fairchild, Bayer, and Colgrove
provide insights not only into how concerns about privacy shaped
the politics of public health but also about how the need for
protection and services could fuel the demand for extending
surveillance. "Searching Eyes" is invaluable not only for those who
want to understand the past but for those who will be called on to
make and debate public health policy in the future."--Larry O.
Gostin, author of "Public Health Law: Power, Duty, Restraint "(2nd
ed, forthcoming 2008)
|
You may like...
Loot
Nadine Gordimer
Paperback
(2)
R398
R330
Discovery Miles 3 300
Runner Runner
Gemma Arterton, Ben Affleck, …
Blu-ray disc
(1)
R45
Discovery Miles 450
|