Book Salon
The Panic Virus

In 1998, British gastroenterologist Andrew Wakefield set off a media firestorm when he alleged that the Measles-Mumps-Rubella (MMR) vaccine could cause autism. Since then, Wakefield has lost his license, and other scientists’ research papers have rendered his conclusions false. Simply put, the MMR scare was a hoax that diverted millions of dollars from vaccine and autism research and caused countless vaccine-preventable deaths among children.

Through a series of interviews with parents, scientists, and public-health and anti-vaccine activists, Seth Mnookin probes fundamental epistemological questions: Who decides the truth? How do people come to believe fallacious ideas? More than just a medical detective story, Mnookin delves into media sensationalism, American individualism, cultural relativism, scientific progress, and the subconscious forces that drive the human psyche. Through crisply-delivered journalistic prose and finely-researched narrative, Mnookin brings to the forefront results that will at inspire both amazement and indignation from parents and non-parents alike.