Deadly Choices: How the Anti-Vaccine Movement Threatens Us All

In 2014, California suffered the largest and deadliest outbreak of pertussis, also known as &quot;whooping cough,&quot; in more than fifty years. This tragedy was avoidable. An effective vaccine has been available since the 1940s. In recent years other diseases, like measles and mumps, have also made a comeback. The reason for these epidemics can be traced to a group whose vocal proponents insist, despite evidence to the contrary, that vaccines are poison. As a consequence, parents and caretakers are rejecting vaccines for themselves and their families.<br><br>In <i>Deadly Choices</i>, infectious-disease expert Paul Offit takes a look behind the curtain of the anti-vaccine movement. What he finds is a reminder of the power of scientific knowledge, and the harm we risk if we ignore it.<br>