Introduction 1
About This Book 1
Foolish Assumptions 2
Icons Used in This Book 2
Beyond the Book 2
Where to Go from Here 3
Part 1: Getting Started with Vaccine Basics 5
Chapter 1: Focusing on Vaccine Fundamentals 7
Realizing the Crucial Role of Vaccines 8
Explaining How a Vaccine Works 9
Distinguishing between antigens and antibodies 10
Breaking down other vaccine ingredients 10
Comparing Viruses, Bacteria, and Toxins 11
Studying COVID-19 Vaccine Development 14
Understanding the Importance of Vaccine Schedules 15
Preparing for Potential Vaccine Side Effects 16
Optimizing Your Immune Response 16
Chapter 2: The (Non) Life of a Virus 17
Looking Inside Your Average Virus 18
Investigating Influenza Viruses 18
Type A 19
Type B 21
Type C 21
Type D 22
Examining Enteroviruses (Including Rhinoviruses) 22
Knowing About Norovirus 23
Understanding HIV 24
Trying to Say Goodbye to Measles 25
Checking Out the Cause of Chicken Pox: Varicella 26
Fighting Ebola 27
Surveying Variola (Smallpox) 29
Chapter 3: The Crowned Virus: Coronavirus 31
Identifying the Coronavirus in Humans 32
Combatting the Common Cold Coronavirus 33
What is a cold, exactly? 34
What causes a cold? 34
When is a cold not a cold? 35
Surveying SARS and MERS 40
Severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) 40
Middle East respiratory syndrome (MERS) 41
COVID-19: The Novel (and Specially Confounding) Coronavirus 42
Reviewing the start of the pandemic 42
Charting the course of the infection 44
Detecting a COVID-19 infection 46
Digging into the development of COVID-19 vaccines 50
Dealing with vaccine side effects 52
Aiming for herd immunity 53
Keeping safe from COVID-19 if you’re not yet protected by vaccination 55
Coping with COVID-19 and flu season 56
Chapter 4: Bacterial Bad Guys 57
Understanding What Makes Bacteria Different from Viruses 57
Digging into Vaccines That Defuse Bacteria 58
The make-up of vaccines that protect against bacterial toxins 59
The bacterial illnesses that vaccines prevent 59
Comparing Antibiotics and Vaccines 64
Seeing How Vaccines Help Prevent Antibiotic Resistance 65
Part 2: Verifying Valuable Vaccines 67
Chapter 5: Distinguishing and Testing Different Vaccines 69
Getting to Know the Different Types of Vaccines 70
Whole-pathogen vaccines 70
Subunit vaccines 72
Testing Vaccines for Safety and Effectiveness 75
Determining the need and costs: The preclinical stage 75
Phase I 76
Phase II 76
Phase III 76
Post–Phase III 77
Studying the Efficacy of Vaccines 78
Measuring efficacy versus effectiveness 78
Rounding up herd immunity 79
Tracing the History of Various Vaccines 80
Smallpox 80
Typhoid fever 81
Yellow fever 81
Influenza 82
Polio 82
Anthrax 82
Measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) 82
Varicella (chicken pox) 83
Chapter 6: Tracking the Current List of Effective Vaccines 85
Chicken Pox (Varicella) 85
Diphtheria, Tetanus, and Pertussis 86
Diphtheria 86
Tetanus 87
Pertussis 88
Haemophilus Influenzae Type B (Hib) 88
Hepatitis A 89
Hepatitis B 90
Human Papillomavirus (HPV) 92
Influenza (Flu) 93
Measles, Mumps, and Rubella (MMR) 95
Measles, Mumps, Rubella, and Varicella (MMRV) 97
Meningococcal Vaccines 97
Pneumococcal Vaccines 98
For adults 99
For children 100
Rotavirus 101
Shingles (Herpes Zoster) 102
Chapter 7: What to Expect When You’re Vaccinating 105
Understanding Side Effects: What May Cause Them and What Happens 106
Looking at common vaccine ingredients 106
Distinguishing vaccine delivery methods 110
Watching for localized skin reactions 111
Expecting a systemic immune response 114
Recognizing and Treating Serious Reactions 116
Avoiding allergic reactions 117
Anaphylactic reactions 117
Febrile seizures after childhood vaccinations 118
Guillain-Barré syndrome 119
Thrombocytopenia 120
Looking at Multiple Vaccines and the Immune System 120
Part 3: Scheduling Safety 123
Chapter 8: Vaccines for Children 125
Understanding Mom-to-Baby Immunity 125
Breastfeeding benefits 126
Antibodies passed on during pregnancy 126
Getting a Reminder of the Effectiveness and Importance of Vaccinations 127
Focusing on Vaccinations in the First Year of Life 127
Hepatitis B 128
Rotavirus 129
DTaP (Diphtheria, tetanus, pertussis) 131
Hib 132
IPV (inactivated polio vaccine) 132
Influenza 133
PCV13 134
Knowing New Vaccinations for Toddlers 134
MMR (measles, mumps, rubella) 136
Varicella or MMRV 139
Hepatitis A 140
Surveying a Few Vaccines for Ages 4 to 6 140
Adding Some School-Age Vaccinations 141
Human papillomavirus (HPV) 141
Meningococcal conjugate (MenACWY) 142
Tetanus, diphtheria, and pertussis (Tdap) 142
Needing a Booster: Vaccines for Teens 143
Catching Up on Childhood Vaccines 144
Spreading vaccines out 144
Starting vaccines late 144
Adopting a child from another country 145
Checking Out Vaccine Schedules Around the World 146
Chapter 9: Vaccines for Adults 147
Vaccines When You’re 19–26 Years Old 147
Your yearly flu shot 148
The COVID-19 vaccine 149
A Tdap or Td booster 150
Vaccines When You’re 27–49 Years Old 151
Vaccines When You’re 50–64 Years Old 151
Vaccines When You’re 65-Plus Years Old 153
Influenza 153
Tdap 155
Pneumococcal vaccines 156
Vaccines Before and During Pregnancy 156
Vaccines for Travelers 157
Making sure you’re up to date on routine vaccines 158
Getting other vaccines depending on your destination 158
Catching Up: If Your Parents/Guardians Didn’t Vaccinate You 160
Chapter 10: Spelling Out Who May Face Risks 161
Knowing When to Avoid or Limit Vaccines 161
Considering vaccines and cancer 162
Vaccines and immune disorders 163
Vaccines after organ transplantation 164
Understanding Vaccines and Allergies 165
Allergies to vaccine ingredients and components 165
Different types of reactions 168
Recognizing reactions that actually aren’t allergies 169
Taking precautions before vaccination 169
Assessing Reactions to the COVID-19 Vaccine 170
Rare cases of anaphylaxis 170
Other types of reactions 170
Inspecting ingredients found in current COVID-19 vaccines 171
Getting the COVID-19 vaccine after you’ve had COVID-19 173
Chapter 11: Anti-Vaxxers and Debunking Myths About Vaccines 175
Studying the Rise of Vaccine Hesitancy 176
Understanding why some people don’t vaccinate 176
Looking at the early anti-vaxxers 178
Debunking Common Vaccine Myths 179
Myth: Diseases were disappearing before vaccines were invented 180
Myth: Vaccines cause serious side effects, illnesses, and death 180
Myth: Kids don’t need to be vaccinated so young 181
Myth: Kids don’t need to be vaccinated when illnesses don’t exist in their country 184
Myth: Giving multiple vaccines at the same time overloads the immune system 184
Myth: Vaccines can cause the disease they are supposed to prevent 185
Myth: Not getting vaccinated affects only me 186
Myth: Natural immunity is always best 186
Myth: The MMR vaccine causes autism 187
Myth: Vaccines contain harmful chemicals 188
Reviewing Vaccine Recalls 189
Part 4: The Part of Tens 191
Chapter 12: Five People Who Created Ten (Or More) Modern Vaccines 193
Edward Jenner: Snuffing Out Smallpox 193
Louis Pasteur: Ridding the World of Rabies 194
Jonas Salk and Albert Sabin: Putting Polio Behind Us 195
Maurice Hilleman: The Master of Modern Vaccines 196
Chapter 13: Ten Diseases Without Vaccines, from A to Z 199
Avian Influenzas (Bird Flu) 200
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) 200
Epstein-Barr Virus (EBV) 201
Hepatitis C 202
Herpes Simplex Virus (HSV) 1 and 2 203
HIV/AIDS 204
Lyme Disease 205
Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) 207
West Nile Virus 208
Zika Virus 209
Chapter 14: The Ten Most Lethal Major Pandemics 211
Antonine Plague (165–180) 212
Plague of Justinian (541–750) 212
Bubonic Plague (Black Death) (1346–1353) 213
Cholera (1846–1860) 214
Third Plague Pandemic (1855–1960) 215
Influenza (Russian Flu) (1889–1890) 215
Influenza (Spanish Flu) (1918–1919) 216
Influenza (Asian Flu) (1957–1958) 217
Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) (1981–Present) 217
COVID-19 (2020–Present) 218
Chapter 15: Ten Ways to Boost Your Immune System 219
Getting Your Vaccinations 219
Decreasing Stress 220
Eating Well 220
Maintaining a Healthy Weight 221
Getting Enough Sleep 221
Exercising for Immunity 222
Saying No to Smoking 222
Drinking Only in Moderation 223
Staying Connected 223
Considering Supplements 224
Index 225
