Vaccine Nation: America's Changing Relationship with Immunization

362 Pages·2014·1.22 MB·English

by  Elena Conis

VACCINE NATION

VACCINE
NATION
AMERICA’S CHANGING
RELATIONSHIP
WITH IMMUNIZATION
ELENA CONIS
The University of Chicago Press
Chicago and London
ElEna Conis is assistant professor of history at Emory University.
The University of Chicago Press, Chicago 60637
The University of Chicago Press, Ltd., London
© 2015 by The University of Chicago
All rights reserved. Published 2015.
Printed in the United States of America
24 23 22 21 20 19 18 17 16 15  1 2 3 4 5
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 92376- 5 (cloth)
isbn- 13: 978- 0- 226- 92377- 2 (e-b ook)
doi: 10.7208/chicago/9780226923772.001.0001
Library of Congress Cataloging-i n- Publication Data
Conis, Elena, author.
Vaccine nation: America’s changing relationship
with immunization / Elena Conis.
pages cm
Includes bibliographical references and index.
isbn 978- 0- 226- 92376- 5 (cloth : alkaline paper) —
isbn 978- 0- 226- 92377- 2 (e- book)
1. Vaccination—U nited States—H istory—2 0th century. I. Title.
ra638.C66 2015
614.4′70973— dc23 2014009846
Portions of chapter 8 appeared in the Journal of Medical Humanities:
“‘Do We Really Need Hepatitis B on the Second Day of Life?’:
Vaccination Mandates and Shifting Representations of Hepatitis B,”
Journal of Medical Humanities 32, no. 2 (2011): 155– 66.
A version of chapter 5 previously appeared in the Bulletin of the
History of Medicine. Copyright © 2013 The Johns Hopkins University
Press: “A Mother’s Responsibility: Women, Medicine, and the Rise of
Contemporary Vaccine Skepticism in the U.S.,” Bulletin of the History
of Medicine 87, no. 3 (2013): 407– 35.
♾ This paper meets the requirements of ansi/niso Z39.48- 1992
(Permanence of Paper).
For JVR

CONTENTS
Introduction · 1
Part i
1. Kennedy’s Vaccination Assistance Act · 19
2. Polio, Measles, and the “Dirty Disease Gang” · 39
3. How Serious Is Mumps? · 63
Part ii
4. Carter’s Childhood Immunization Initiative · 87
5. A Mother’s Responsibility · 105
6. Tampering with Nature · 131
Part iii
7. Clinton’s Vaccines for Children Program · 161
8. Sex, Drugs, and Hepatitis B · 179
9. Vaccine Risks and the New Media · 203
10. Sex, Girls, and HPV · 227
Conclusion · 251
Appendix: The Science and Regulation of Vaccines · 255
Acknowledgments · 259
Notes · 261
Selected Bibliography · 327
Index · 339

INTRODUCTION
At the turn of the new millennium, childhood vaccines were constantly in
the news. A new vaccine against rotavirus was recalled because it caused
a severe bowel disorder. A long-u sed vaccine preservative was banned
because it exposed children to the toxic metal mercury. Congressional
hearings investigated the safety of the hepatitis B vaccine, following
news reports that it caused multiple sclerosis and autoimmune disorders.
A growing number of parents worried that the vaccine against measles,
mumps, and rubella was behind rising rates of autism. And a new vac-
cine, against human papillomavirus (HPV), sparked a firestorm of debate
when lawmakers attempted to require it for sixth- grade girls. As these
episodes unfolded, blogs, message boards, and best- selling books buzzed
with advice about how to circumvent vaccine requirements and undo
feared damage caused by vaccines. Celebrities spoke out against vaccines
on talk shows and the nightly news. Angry parents marched on Wash-
ington. Even presidential hopefuls weighed in from the 2012 campaign
trail. Vaccines for children had become one of the biggest controversies
of the day.
In response, medical and health experts did all they could to assure
Americans that vaccines were safe. The nation’s prestigious Institute
of Medicine convened expert panels that reviewed and confirmed the
safety of vaccines against hepatitis B and measles, mumps, and rubella.
Scientists launched massive studies that examined the causes of autism
and exonerated vaccines. Physicians and health officials took to the air-
waves to remind parents that the diseases prevented by vaccines were
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