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The Vaccine Narrative
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The Vaccine Narrative Library binding - 2008

by Jacob Heller


From the publisher

The Salk vaccine seemed like a miracle to parents whose children were threatened with the scourge of polio. With its protection from polio, came also a story line-there were heroic researchers who would use science to protect us from epidemics and perhaps even eradicate disease. For most people, vaccines have become the magic bullets for dealing with dangerous diseases. The continuing quest for new vaccines, including an HIV/AIDS vaccine, despite technical, epidemiological, and social obstacles, suggests the abiding power of this narrative. The author examines four cases that span the twentieth century--diphtheria, rubella, pertussis, and HIV/AIDS. Each case challenges the reader to examine how the values we attribute to vaccines influence their use. Diphtheria vaccination brought laboratory science into an existing narrative based on earlier vaccines. With rubella vaccine, researchers efficiently responded to an epidemic of birth defects while subtly changing the relationship between vaccination recipients and beneficiaries. Opposition to pertussis vaccine from average Americans created a narrative crisis, in which faith in vaccination as a whole seemed to be at risk. With more recent vaccines, including a hoped-for HIV/AIDS vaccine, the persistent cultural narrative continues to encourage vaccine development and use.

From the jacket flap

As new vaccines proliferate, this book asks where our faith in vaccines comes from.

Details

  • Title The Vaccine Narrative
  • Author Jacob Heller
  • Binding Library Binding
  • Pages 216
  • Volumes 1
  • Language ENG
  • Publisher Vanderbilt University Press
  • Date 2008-07-11
  • Features Bibliography, Index, Table of Contents
  • ISBN 9780826515902 / 0826515908
  • Weight 0.9 lbs (0.41 kg)
  • Dimensions 9 x 6 x 0.8 in (22.86 x 15.24 x 2.03 cm)
  • Themes
    • Aspects (Academic): Historical
  • Library of Congress subjects History, 20th Century - United States, Sociology, Medical - United States
  • Library of Congress Catalog Number 2007022442
  • Dewey Decimal Code 615.372

Media reviews

Citations

  • Choice, 01/01/2009, Page 0
  • Chronicle of Higher Education, 07/04/2008, Page 18
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The Vaccine Narrative
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The Vaccine Narrative

by Heller, Jacob

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The Vaccine Narrative
Stock Photo: Cover May Be Different

The Vaccine Narrative

by Heller, Jacob

  • New
  • Hardcover
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New
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ISBN 13
9780826515902
ISBN 10
0826515908
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Vanderbilt University Press. Hardcover. New. 9x5x0.
Item Price
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