Vaccines: What You Should Know, Third Edition

Get the straight facts about vaccines and make informed choices

Do you wonder whether vaccines are safe and whether they are all really necessary? This completely revised and updated edition of the classic Vaccines: What You Should Know helps you sort through the latest information about vaccines in order to determine what is right for your family.

Coauthored by Paul Offit, a member of the CDC advisory committee that determines which vaccines are recommended for use in the United States, this guide tells you what vaccines are made of and clearly explains how they are made, how they work, and the risks associated with them.

This updated edition includes recommendations for the smallpox vaccine, the latest information on vaccines for travelers, and the latest on the progress of combination vaccines. Expanded information on vaccine safety includes discussion of vaccines and autism, mercury in vaccines, and the ability of children to tolerate numerous vaccines at once.

PAUL A. OFFIT, M.D., is Chief of Infectious Diseases at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia and a professor of pediatrics at the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. The author of Breaking the Antibiotic Habit, he lives with his wife and two children in the Philadelphia area.
LOUIS M. BELL, M.D., is Chief of General Pediatrics at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He lives with his wife and seven children in the Philadelphia area.