Truth, Lies, and Controversy
This book will help you navigate the bewildering and often contradictory flood
of information about vaccines.
There is substantial misinformation about vaccines
on the Internet, particularly from those who reject all vaccines, but also from
official sources, which are expected to be neutral and objective.
Vaccines: Truth, Lies, and Controversy is based on the best available evidence,
and Professor Peter C. Gøtzsche explains when and why we should not have
confidence in the science and official recommendations.
Some vaccines are so beneficial - and have saved millions of lives - that we should
all get them; some are so poor that many healthcare professionals do not use them for
themselves or their families; and some are in-between.
We must evaluate carefully each vaccine, one by one, assessing the balance between
its benefits and harms, just as we do for other drugs, and then form an opinion about
whether we think the vaccine is worth getting or recommending to other people.
Vaccines focuses on measles, influenza, COVID-19, and HPV, but discusses also
childhood vaccination programs and whether mandatory vaccination can be justified.
Raising critical questions to vaccines is essential because there are still many
unresolved issues. For example, we know virtually nothing about what happens when
we use many vaccines and what the long-term effects are on the immune system.
Vaccines demystifies the controversial topic and helps the reader formulate their own opinion.