Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases

"Medical writing at its finest."—David Oshinsky, author of Polio and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History

Respected physician Paul Offit tells a fascinating story of modern medicine and pays tribute to one of the greatest lifesaving breakthroughs—vaccinations—and the medical hero responsible for developing nine of the big fourteen vaccines which have saved billions of lives worldwide. This edition includes a new foreword by the author.

Maurice Hilleman’s mother died a day after he was born and his twin sister was stillborn. Believing that he had escaped an appointment with death, he made it his life’s work to see that others could do the same. The fruits of his labors were nine vaccines that practically every child receives, everyday miracles of modern medicine that have eradicated some of the most common—and devastating—diseases, including mumps and rubella.

Offit, a vaccine researcher himself who co-invented the rotavirus vaccine, befriended Hilleman and, during the great man’s final months, interviewed him extensively about his life and career. Those conversations are the heart of Vaccinated. In telling Hilleman’s story, Offit takes us around the globe and across time, from the days of Louis Pasteur, to today, when a childhood vaccine can protect women from cervical cancer and stop a deadly pandemic like Covid-19. Yet these preventative treatments have come under increasing attack from both the left and right, and the anti-vaxxer movement that began with false reports over autism is growing at an alarming rate, threatening society’s well-being, and especially those whose conditions prevent them from being vaccinated. 

Offit makes an eloquent and compelling case for Hilleman’s importance, arguing that his name should be as well-known as Jonas Salk. Vaccinated reminds us of the value of vaccines and the power of science to save lives and protect our well-being.

Maurice Hilleman's mother died a day after he was born and his twin sister stillborn. As an adult, he said that he felt he had escaped an appointment with death. He made it his life's work to see that others could do the same. Born into the life of a Montana chicken farmer, Hilleman ran off to the University of Chicago to become a microbiologist, and eventually joined Merck, the pharmaceutical company, to pursue his goal of eliminating childhood disease. Chief among his accomplishments are nine vaccines that practically every child gets, rendering formerly dread diseases—including often devastating ones such as mumps and rubella—practically toothless and nearly forgotten; his measles vaccine alone saves several million lives every year.

Vaccinated is not a biography; Hilleman's experience forms the basis for a rich and lively narrative of two hundred years of medical history, ranging across the globe and throughout time to take in a cast of hundreds, all caught up, intentionally or otherwise, in the story of vaccines. It is an inspiring and triumphant tale, but one with a cautionary aspect, as vaccines come under assault from people blaming vaccines for autism and worse. Paul Offit clearly and compellingly rebuts those arguments, and, by demonstrating how much the work of Hilleman and others has gained for humanity, shows us how much we have to lose.

“This extraordinarily fine, well-researched, and beautifully written book deserves the widest possible readership. More physicians should write this well.” - Choice magazine

“Paul Offit has written a fascinating account of the development of vaccines, as seen through the life and work of Maurice Hilleman, one of the most important people that you’ve never heard of. One leaves Offit’s book with an appreciation of the profound effect vaccinations have had on life, and the challenging paths that Hilleman and others trod in developing them.” - Jonathan Engel, author of The Epidemic and Associate Dean for Academic Programs, Baruch College, CUNY

"Offit gives the reader a window into the key scientific advances that have led to the modern age of vaccines. . . . [It] is a compelling story. . . . Offit brings interesting perspective to the characters of the time." - Journal of the American Medical Association

"An enlightening glimpse into the complex interface between public health and private industry, chronicling the ability of a singularly tenacious person to save more lives than perhaps any other scientist in history." - New England Journal of Medicine

"Medical writing at its finest." - David Oshinsky, author of Polio and winner of the Pulitzer Prize for History