On Immunity: An Inoculation by Eula Biss

from goodreads

4 stars

There are few topics that can be so divisive and argumentative than vaccination. When I told one of the moms on the playground about the book I just finished she said, "it seems now a days, religion and politics are safer topics than vaccination". That statement is so true.

A few years ago at a play group we got on the subject of vaccinations. A mom there was just wondering what our views were of them and if there were any that we wouldn't have done. This is around the time of year where we in Canada start thinking about getting the flu shot.

At first no one said much, just general statements. It wasn't until a brave mom said that she vaccinates her kids, that we all said that yes, we vaccinate too. (Though we rarely do the flu shot, no good reason, we just don't. Perhaps it is laziness.) I think we just didn't want to offend or step on someone's ideas of what was right with them. And quite frankly, I just didn't want to open a whole can of worms. I am not an expert immunologist, I have done a bit of research but not much, I just didn't feel like arguing about a topic that is full of myths, half-truths, and sometimes deception. So lucky for us we were able to have a pleasant conversation and there were no sippy cups being thrown.

It is interesting how our thoughts go crazy as soon as we think about vaccination. How black and white we all seem to make a very gray subject.

Synopsis

Eula Biss takes a look at the history of vaccinations and looks at the societal metaphors that surrounds our thoughts on them.

My Thoughts

I am really glad that I read this book. When I first put a hold on it I didn't look at the book length and thought I was going to be getting a 500 page thesis. I was happily surprised when it was only 163 pages of text before the notes. Nice!

This book was a really interesting look at our decision process surrounding vaccination. What makes us want to, what makes us not want to. And while she never comes out and says whether you should or not, she helps navigate the world of vaccinations and gives some suggestions to consider and gives some creditable sources to look at when making your decision.

I found the historical aspects of the book really fascinating. Being leery or questionable about vaccines is not a new thing. Throughout the 19th century many people were as leery about them as many people are now. (For good reason as in the 19th century they still didn't believe in small germs.) Stigmas seems to surround all vaccines and those stigmas whether untrue or not were and are hard to shake.

The whole Dracula aspect was an interesting slant. It tied things together and made things interesting.

I loved the quotes from the author's dad. He seems like a sensible man and I would love to have a book with his ideas and thoughts. He seems so wise.

I felt she did a good job at being fairly unbiased, though, other's may not think so. She does vaccinate, so, those who don't vaccinate might think she has too much of a pro-vaccinate slant. To me it seemed like she presented some facts and in the end leaves you to decide what to do with it.

I found this to be a very pleasant read on such a polarizing topic. It might be short but it is worthwhile to look into. Perhaps the length is its greatest strength.