This new booklet is based on the lecture of the same title presented by homeopath Trevor Gunn and challenges many of the assumptions made about vaccination. From the main question that should be asked, that is, 'Do germs cause disease?' Trevor presents information to challenge vaccine safety and effectiveness, and the decline in disease. Illness and susceptibility, consequences of acute disease, the immune system and a brief focus on polio, tetanus and travel are also included.
- Author: Trevor Gunn
- ISBN: 9780955467806
- 44 pages
- Edition: Second
- Paperback
- Published in 2006
- Printed in United Kingdom
Reprinted with the permission of The ARH (from 'Homeopathy in Practice', Summer 2007 edition). Reviewed by Yvonne Stone RSHom.
This booklet is the latest work from Trevor and is based on lectures he has given via The Informed Parent. It is written for parents and the informed layperson, so when he describes the immune system, he uses basic diagrams and explains physiology in simple terms. However, it contains a mountain of useful background information about how the vaccination process was developed. It then challenges the current medical paradigm that germs cause disease and that vaccination creates immunity to it.
The graphs, showing how diseases were reported over time and in relation to the introduction of the associated vaccine, are compared with graphs showing deaths from disease and that deaths were declining before the vaccines were introduced. The final graph shows how deaths from scarlet fever declined even though no vaccine was ever developed. Also hidden in the graph is the information that since 1976 there have been less than 20 cases of tetanus reported each year in England and Wales, yet we are still vaccinating all children.
The book has short, specific chapters which make it easy to dip into to answer individual questions but, as it is so interesting and easy to read, I found myself reading all of it over a couple of hours. I was able to get the general ideas and then read it again more slowly to digest the more complicated chapters.
I would definitely read the book before recommending it to parents. The content is about the overall effects of vaccination, so it is useful for people wanting to know about the background science. Only tetanus and polio are discussed specifically as they are used to describe how the body copes with toxins. I realise that, even with all the reading I have done, I can still fall into the trap of being worried about an individual infectious disease, such as the latest media discussions about malaria, but this book helped me to remember the basic message that it is all about susceptibility.
As this is a relatively cheap addition to our vaccination library, it is useful for anyone wanting to know more of the general background and who is looking for ideas to challenge the current medical paradigm.
