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Humphries, Suzanne,

Dissolving illusions : disease, vaccines and the forgotten history / Suzanne Humphries MD and Roman Bystrianyk. - San Bernadino, CA CreateSpace 2013 - xviii, 504 pages : illustrations ; 23 cm

Publication information taken from Amazon.com (http://www.amazon.com/Dissolving-Illusions-Disease-Vaccines-Forgotten/dp/1480216895/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1409176371&sr=8-1&keywords=dissolving+illusions), viewed on August 27, 2014.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Introduction -- Terminology -- The not so good ol' days -- Suffer the little children -- Disease: a way of life -- Smallpox and the first vaccine -- Contaminated vaccines -- The great demonstration -- The rebel experiment -- The power of the state -- The case of Arthur Smith Jr. -- The health revolution -- The amazing decline -- The "disappearance" of polio -- Whooping cough -- Measles -- Starvation, scurvy, and Vitamin C -- Lost remedies -- Belief and fear.

Starting in the mid-1800s, there was a steady drop in deaths from all infectious diseases, decreasing to relatively minor levels by the early 1900s. The history of that transformation involves famine, poverty, filth, lost cures, eugenicist doctrine, individual freedoms versus state might, protests and arrests over vaccine refusal, and much more. But the authors shows that vaccines, antibiotics, and other medical interventions are not responsible for the increase in lifespan and the decline in mortality from infectious diseases.

ISBN: 1480216895 9781480216891

Subjects--Topical Terms:
Diseases--History.
Diseases--Treatment--History.
Communicable diseases--History.
Epidemics--History.

LC Class. No.: R149 / .H86 2013 RB15 / .H86 2013

Dewey Class. No.: 614.409 / HUMP

National Library of Medicine Call No.: WC 11.1