Vaccines: Are they Worth a Shot?

The dangerous decline in vaccinations in many developed countries is at the heart of a lively debate that confirms how important the subject is today. Vaccinations are among mankind’s most important scientific discoveries, yet they continue to be viewed with suspicion by part of the public – the victims of disinformation campaigns, instrumentalization and unfounded fears. There is, however, also an evolutionary explanation for these irrational beliefs, and countering the growing social opposition will be extremely difficult without grasping it.

This book, which sheds new light on the safety and importance of vaccinations, is intended both for parents and those readers who want to understand the role of vaccinations in contemporary society, where the ease of access to knowledge is both a great opportunity and a great responsibility. The chapters follow a historical progression and conclude with a discussion of the most recent cognitive theories on how to overcome this opposition to vaccinations.

1.1. The 80s, the beginning of the crisis (or resistance)

1.2. Education about risk

1.3. Social changes: The doctor-patient relationship in jeopardy

1.4. Unexpected impact of late fecundity

2. A brief history of the anti-vaccination movements

2.1. The anti-vaccination movements between 1700 and 1800: Roots of obligation and objection

2.2. The anti-vaccination movements in 1900: Media and politics

3.1. Conspiracy on the Internet: separating fact from fiction

3.2. Economic criticism: Big Pharma and the allure of patents

3.3. Logic errors: the precautionary principle and the equal balance mistake

3.4. False or manipulated data: Autism

3.5. Prejudices and ideologies: Purported overload and weakening of the immune system

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4. The antivax “experts": five ways to recognize them

4.1. Alternative philosophies: homeopathy, anthroposophy and Waldarf -Steiner schools

4.2. The "alternative therapies": Five clues that reveal a charlatan

5. Past, present, and future of vaccines

5.1. Evolutionary history of naturally acquired immunity

5.2. Artificially acquired immunity: success and safety of vaccines

5.3. Therapeutic vaccines of the future: cancer and neurodegenerative diseases

6. Conclusions

6.1. A new alliance between scientists and citizens for a “knowledge society”