Eula Biss

Imagine the action of a vaccine not just in terms of how it affects a single body, but also in terms of how it affects the collective body of a community. ”

Our community of contagion really is a world community. ”

There's a cultural expectation that everyone will be immunized, in part to protect the entire population. When people refuse that expectation, they're indulging in a certain kind of political or social immunity. ”

I think there's a temptation to try to think of people who don't vaccinate as a homogenous community, but I'm not convinced that's true. I'm not even sure that the word 'community' is totally accurate there, you know. ”

Yes, we can make prudent choices as parents, but we can't create an environment where there's zero risk for our children. Not only is that impossible, I don't think it's desirable, either. ”

There's something ancient and inevitable about this desire to do whatever you can to protect your child. ”

If your child's going to ride in a car or go swimming or play soccer, all of those things involve risk. And if your child doesn't do any of those things, then they're probably sitting too much, and that involves risk, too. ”

In some areas, immunity has been eroded so much that the child who's not vaccinated is now actually more vulnerable to the complications of infectious diseases. ”

Babies born to women who are infected with hep B - and mothers can carry the virus without their knowledge - will almost certainly be infected if they are not vaccinated within twelve hours of birth. ”

I had already drafted the manuscript that would become my first book by the time I graduated from college, but I had no idea what to do with it. ”