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Seth Mnookin

The Panic Virus: The True Story Behind the Vaccine-Autism Controversy Paperback – Jan. 3 2012

by Seth Mnookin (Author)

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WHO DECIDES WHICH FACTS ARE TRUE?

In 1998 Andrew Wakefield, a British gastroenterologist with a history of self-promotion, published a paper with a shocking allegation: the measles-mumps-rubella vaccine might cause autism. The media seized hold of the story and, in the process, helped to launch one of the most devastating health scares ever. In the years to come Wakefield would be revealed as a profiteer in league with class-action lawyers, and he would eventually lose his medical license. Meanwhile one study after another failed to find any link between childhood vaccines and autism.

Yet the myth that vaccines somehow cause developmental disorders lives on. Despite the lack of corroborating evidence, it has been popularized by media personalities such as Oprah Winfrey and Jenny McCarthy and legitimized by journalists who claim that they are just being fair to “both sides” of an issue about which there is little debate. Meanwhile millions of dollars have been diverted from potential breakthroughs in autism research, families have spent their savings on ineffective “miracle cures,” and declining vaccination rates have led to outbreaks of deadly illnesses like Hib, measles, and whooping cough. Most tragic of all is the increasing number of children dying from vaccine-preventable diseases.

In The Panic Virus Seth Mnookin draws on interviews with parents, public-health advocates, scientists, and anti-vaccine activists to tackle a fundamental question: How do we decide what the truth is? The fascinating answer helps explain everything from the persistence of conspiracy theories about 9/11 to the appeal of talk-show hosts who demand that President Obama “prove” he was born in America.

The Panic Virus is a riveting and sometimes heart-breaking medical detective story that explores the limits of rational thought. It is the ultimate cautionary tale for our time.

Print length

464 pages
Language

English
Publication date

Jan. 3 2012
Dimensions

13.97 x 2.95 x 21.43 cm
ISBN-10

1439158657
ISBN-13

978-1439158654
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Review

“Seth Mnookin’s The Panic Virus is a lesson how fear hijacks reason and emotion trumps logic. . . . A brilliant piece of reportage and science writing." -- Michael Shermer ― The Wall Street Journal

"Mnookin deftly describes how the Internet has fostered new communities of people fiercely gathered around their own versions of truth. . . . Loaded with interesting anecdotes and historical tidbits, The Panic Virus is a fascinating read. The scope of the book is often impressive." -- Susannah Nesmith ― The Miami Herald

"The Panic Virus is sure to attract attention. . . . Mnookin's book is an unsparing brief against the vaccine skeptics. But in a larger sense, this volume is less about the insurrection against inoculations than it is about the democratization of information. . . . Less about the contagion of ideas than about the contagion of misinformation and mistrust that metastasizes in the new technology." -- David M. Shribman ― The Boston Globe

“A must-read for parents and parents-to-be.” -- Trine Tsouderos ― Chicago Tribune

“The definitive, infuriating history of the myth that vaccines cause autism.” -- Bill Wasik ― The New York Observer

About the Author

Seth Mnookin is a contributing editor at Vanity Fair and a former senior writer for Newsweek, where he covered media, politics, and popular culture. His writing has appeared in The Washington Post, New York magazine, and many other publications. He is the author of The Panic Virus: A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear; Feeding the Monster: How Money, Smarts, and Nerve Took a Team to the Top and Hard News: The Scandals at The New York Times and Their Meaning for American Media. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Simon & Schuster (Jan. 3 2012)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 464 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1439158657
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1439158654
Item weight ‏ : ‎ 395 g
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 13.97 x 2.95 x 21.43 cm

Best Sellers Rank: #549,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #176 in Preventive Medicine Books
- #199 in Microbiological Virology
- #253 in Epidemiology (Books)

Customer Reviews:
4.5 300 ratings

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Seth Mnookin

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Seth Mnookin is the co-director of MIT's Graduate Program of Science Writing and is the author of three books. His most recent, 2011's THE PANIC VIRUS: THE TRUE STORY BEHIND THE VACCINE-AUTISM CONTROVERSY, won the National Association of Science Writers Science in Society Book Award, was a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize, and was named one of The Wall Street Journal's Top 5 Health and Medicine books of the year. In 2006, he published the national bestseller FEEDING THE MONSTER: HOW MONEY, SMARTS AND NERVE TOOK A TEAM TO THE TOP, which chronicled the rise of the Boston Red Sox and their 2004 World Series win. Seth's first book was 2004's HARD NEWS: THE SCANDALS AT THE NEW YORK TIMES AND THEIR MEANING FOR AMERICAN MEDIA, which was a Washington Post Best Book of the Year.

Seth began his career as a rock critic for the now-defunct webzine Addicted to Noise. He's been a police reporter at The Palm Beach Post, a political reporter at Brill's Content, a music columnist at The New York Observer, and a national affairs reporter at Newsweek. Since 2005 he's been a contributing editor at Vanity Fair, where he's reported from Iraq, written about Stephen Colbert, and delved into plagiarism accusations against Dan Brown. His work has also appeared in The New Yorker, New York, The New York Times Book Review, The Washington Post Book World, Spin, Slate, Salon, and other publications. He graduated from Harvard College in 1994 with a degree in the History of Science and was a 2004 Joan Shorenstein Fellow at Harvard's Kennedy School of Government. A native of Newton, Massachusetts, he and his wife currently live in Brookline with their two children and adopted dog.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

300 global ratings

5 star		62%
4 star		29%
3 star		5%
2 star		2%
1 star		3%

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Top reviews from Canada

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E

An invaluable resource to parents, children and educators alike

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 10, 2015

Verified Purchase

With The Panic Virus, journalist Seth Mnookin has provided his readers with an excellent and balanced overview of vaccination's history and role in public health, as well as the scientific method as a whole. Readers of the book will come away with a detailed understanding of what is behind the arguments of vaccination advocates and critics alike. While Mnookin's conclusions side with the advocates, he is very much fair to the rational skeptic (the irrational skeptic, however, is another matter).

Although Mnookin is not a scientist (he is now the Co-director of MIT's science writing graduate program), his book is clearly well-researched: the immunology and its history are spot on, as are his explanations of the underlying principles of science (e.g. association of two variables does not necessarily imply causation). Mnookin also goes onto explain how pseudoscience and bad journalism can directly affect and/or harm the population as a whole. This in particular proves especially relevant in today's world. With new "scientific" studies emerging nearly every day, many of which seem contradictory, a good understanding of the scientific method is key to debunking many of them. Mnookin provides that understanding to his readers with this book.

Stylistically, the book is easy to follow and one does not require a scientific background to read it. Any individual fortunate enough to read The Panic Virus will gain a greater knowledge of vaccination and its history as well as a good foundation in the scientific and public health in general.

2 people found this helpful

Helpful

Alison Vaughan

Essential reading for parents

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 7, 2013

Verified Purchase

Well written, sensitive, compassionate but rigourously factual and balanced. Highlights the way in which science is often hijacked by the media with horrific consequences. If only everyone read this book.

Helpful

Jeff Brown

Great easy read - and necessary

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on September 4, 2013

Verified Purchase

Great easy read for anyone who want to know more about vaccinations and autism, and the BS link created by some physicans and overburdened parents.

If you want to know the real story, and why kids should be vaccinated, read this!!!!

Helpful

delisle34

Very interesting analysis.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on June 23, 2016

Verified Purchase

Very interesting analysis. The stories told by the other give an interesting perspective on why are people so scared of vaccines

Helpful

George W.Taylor

Debunked Vacines and Autism

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on May 31, 2017

Autism and Vaccine
Seth Mnookin author of "The Panic Virus" spoke at a Toronto Research Ethics conference and debunked as he did in this book the vaccine relationship to autism. It was false research to have such a relationship. I recommend this book as a good read.

Reviewed in Canada 🇨🇦 on January 21, 2020

fake news nope nope nope nope nope nope nope why does this exist bad book rather have the back plage than believe this horrable book bad literature hiter's auto bio is better than this. Anti vaxer is a nope esential oils and healing crystals do nothing

One person found this helpful

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

P. Elliott

More than just a devasting critique of the anti vaccine 'argument'

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on December 27, 2013

Verified Purchase

A highly readable account of the way in which emotionally charged theories about the causes of autism, which were actually contradicted by the scientific evidence, were promoted by their advocates and sections of the media highly effectively and with little regard for actual evidence or the harms and deaths that might (and did) result from reduced vaccinations.

At the time of the early hysteria, circa 2002/3 I questioned whether my son should have the MMR vaccine. There seemed to be a strong argument against, but this fell apart when I looked into the matter more deeply. The evidence seemed clear - not vaccinating came with many dangers, to my son and to others who couldn't be vaccinated. By contrast the 'arguments' about the risks of vaccination were speculations based on anecdotes and the reasoning fallacy 'post hoc ergo proptor hoc' (after this therefore because of this). The question had been asked and answered by robust, reputable studies; there was no evidence for a causal link between vaccination and autism.

This book explains why the 'controversy' emerged, but does much more: it helps explain why a combination of widespread misunderstanding of science (and indeed reasoning), self reinforcing conspiracy theories and lazy, sensationalist reporting can create controversies where there should be none, and in the process generate angst and even real harm. A book everyone should read.

One person found this helpful

Amazon Customer

Interesting but difficult to read

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on January 2, 2020

Verified Purchase

It's very interesting but a bit of a difficult read, one must be very dedicated to actually finish it reading quickly. I am reading a chapter a week, so it's going to take some time to finish. There are a lot of names used, and I struggle to follow who is who.

shopaholic housewife

Every parent of young children should read this book and then make sure others do

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 17, 2014

Verified Purchase

This is an exceptionally well written, scrupulously researched book. As a parent with a child on the autistic spectrum, like many others I worried at one point that giving him the MMR vaccine might have triggered his autism, but this book has now completely put my mind at rest. More importantly, it has made me aware of how dangerous not vaccinating children can be, not just for my kids but for everyone. I urge anyone, but especially parents with young children, with any questions about vaccines to read this book thoroughly. It completely debunks all the myths, lies, and snake-oil pseudo-science, and represents and exemplary work of research.

3 people found this helpful

Mrs Luisa Turner

Great for anyone interested in or researching the anti-vaccine movement

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on August 20, 2017

Verified Purchase

Using this book to help with research into my EPQ (extended project qualification) and it's incredibly interesting and well-written. Centre mainly around the history of vaccines in the USA but also mentions the effects in the UK especially concerning Andrew Wakefield!
Only half way through but thoroughly enjoying the read! Great for anyone interested in or researching the anti-vaccine movement!

Germslayer

Very informative

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on April 12, 2019

Verified Purchase

Interesting account of the anti vaccine movement.

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Seth Mnookin

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