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Title details for The Panic Virus by Seth Mnookin - Available

The Panic Virus

A True Story of Medicine, Science, and Fear

by Seth Mnookin
Dan John Miller
Audiobook
2 of 2 copies available
Borrow Listen to a sample Listen to a sample
2 of 2 copies available
The Panic Virus is a gripping scientific detective story about how grassroots radicals, snake-oil salesmen, and cynical journalists have perpetrated the biggest health-scare hoax of all time. It explores what happens when the media treats all viewpoints as equally valid, regardless of facts, from parents who are convinced that vaccines caused their children's autism to right-wing radicals who believe that climate change is a myth. It also explains how the endless quantity of information available online has radicalized partisans by fueling their tendency to filter out anything that doesn't reinforce their way of thinking.


Tens of millions of dollars have been wasted appeasing denialists who think the government is perpetrating a health "holocaust" on children. Declining vaccination rates have caused recent outbreaks of measles, whooping cough, and Hib—and children around the country are dying as a result.


Like works by Oliver Sacks and Richard Dawkins, The Panic Virus uses everyday experiences to show how science affects our lives. Listeners will learn why definitive proof in science is virtually impossible, how rational decision making is ruled by emotion, and why paupers' graves in the 1880s led to an outbreak of throat cancer in the 1950s.

  • Creators

  • Publisher

  • Release date

    January 19, 2011

  • Formats

    • OverDrive Listen audiobook

      • ISBN: 9781452620411
      • File size: 309544 KB
      • Duration: 10:44:52

  • Languages

    • English

  • Reviews

    • AudioFile Magazine
      Is the MMR vaccine responsible for autism? No, Seth Mnookin says in his look at the fears that still have many parents keeping their kids from being vaccinated. Dan John Miller has hints of anger and indignation in his voice as he delivers the author's criticisms of Dr. Andrew Wakefield, the British scientist who first raised the question of vaccinations and autism (whose work is now discredited), as well as Oprah Winfrey, Jenny McCarthy, and other media figures involved in the scare. Miller can also be somber as he tells of a child's death, which Mnookin blames on the fear-mongering. At the same time, Mnookin discusses the history of both autism and vaccines, showing how concerns grew over the years. Mnookin's book has a strong message aimed at parents who are making decisions regarding their young children. J.A.S. (c) AudioFile 2011, Portland, Maine
    • Publisher's Weekly

      November 29, 2010
      In this searching exposé, the recent hysteria over childhood vaccinations and their alleged link to autism be-comes a cautionary tale of bad science amplified by media sensationalism. Journalist Mnookin (Hard News) treats the belief that autism is caused by common vaccines as an epidemic, tracing its origin to a young British doctor's dubious research into Crohn's disease and measles in the early 1990s. This "panic virus" spread through online communities of parents desperate for answers; fueled by mainstream media, it has created a growing reluctance on the part of parents to vaccinate their children, which, Mnookin warns, results in an increased rate of children dying from preventable infectious diseases. Crucial to this virus's spread was the unwillingness of reporters to parse complex health statistics and their embrace of a populist story line about feisty "Mercury Moms" challenging a corrupt and covert medical establishment. Mnookin presents a thorough and lucid debunking of the claims of a link between vaccines and autism and the charlatanism and profiteering of those who publicize it. The result is a hard-hitting contribution to the debate and a troubling portrait of a public sphere that elevates intuition and emotion above reason and evidence.

Formats

  • OverDrive Listen audiobook

subjects

Languages

  • English

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