Dr. Adam Ratner

And I think that just by elevating anti-vaccine views in the guise of RFK, I think that we risk a crisis in vaccine confidence in the U.S.,

And I think that just by elevating anti-vaccine views in the guise of RFK, I think that we risk a crisis in vaccine confidence in the U.S.,

That is the crux of what I was trying to get at in the book. I trained in pediatrics and then in infectious diseases at this incredible inflection point where the generation before mine had seen their diseases that – I was not seeing as a resident. There were things that vaccines just made disappear between that generation and my generation.

That is the crux of what I was trying to get at in the book. I trained in pediatrics and then in infectious diseases at this incredible inflection point where the generation before mine had seen their diseases that – I was not seeing as a resident. There were things that vaccines just made disappear between that generation and my generation.

That is the crux of what I was trying to get at in the book. I trained in pediatrics and then in infectious diseases at this incredible inflection point where the generation before mine had seen their diseases that – I was not seeing as a resident. There were things that vaccines just made disappear between that generation and my generation.

So there was a horrible disease called Hib, which is a bacterium that can cause sepsis and pneumonia and meningitis and death in children. There were a couple hundred thousand cases of this in the United States every year. And pediatricians worried about Hib all the time.

So there was a horrible disease called Hib, which is a bacterium that can cause sepsis and pneumonia and meningitis and death in children. There were a couple hundred thousand cases of this in the United States every year. And pediatricians worried about Hib all the time.

So there was a horrible disease called Hib, which is a bacterium that can cause sepsis and pneumonia and meningitis and death in children. There were a couple hundred thousand cases of this in the United States every year. And pediatricians worried about Hib all the time.

When my mother trained, so my mother is also a pediatrician, a generation before me, she had tons of patients with Hib, and she lost patients with this disease. And then in the late 1980s, a Hib vaccine came out, it was widely adopted, and I did not see a single case over the course of my training. And so there was this – it was like a switch.

When my mother trained, so my mother is also a pediatrician, a generation before me, she had tons of patients with Hib, and she lost patients with this disease. And then in the late 1980s, a Hib vaccine came out, it was widely adopted, and I did not see a single case over the course of my training. And so there was this – it was like a switch.

When my mother trained, so my mother is also a pediatrician, a generation before me, she had tons of patients with Hib, and she lost patients with this disease. And then in the late 1980s, a Hib vaccine came out, it was widely adopted, and I did not see a single case over the course of my training. And so there was this – it was like a switch.

There was this incredible power of vaccines that was visible right in front of me in real time. But if you look at people who are parents today and people who may have questions about vaccines and are weighing risks and benefits, which is a fully reasonable thing for parents to do – They may say, I've never seen someone with polio. I've never seen someone with whooping cough.

There was this incredible power of vaccines that was visible right in front of me in real time. But if you look at people who are parents today and people who may have questions about vaccines and are weighing risks and benefits, which is a fully reasonable thing for parents to do – They may say, I've never seen someone with polio. I've never seen someone with whooping cough.

There was this incredible power of vaccines that was visible right in front of me in real time. But if you look at people who are parents today and people who may have questions about vaccines and are weighing risks and benefits, which is a fully reasonable thing for parents to do – They may say, I've never seen someone with polio. I've never seen someone with whooping cough.

One person says that there are side effects of the vaccine. The other person says that there aren't. Why would I take a chance by giving the vaccine for something I've barely heard of? And the answer to that, of course, is that you've never seen these things. You've never heard of these things because of vaccines. But that's a hard thing to communicate.

One person says that there are side effects of the vaccine. The other person says that there aren't. Why would I take a chance by giving the vaccine for something I've barely heard of? And the answer to that, of course, is that you've never seen these things. You've never heard of these things because of vaccines. But that's a hard thing to communicate.

One person says that there are side effects of the vaccine. The other person says that there aren't. Why would I take a chance by giving the vaccine for something I've barely heard of? And the answer to that, of course, is that you've never seen these things. You've never heard of these things because of vaccines. But that's a hard thing to communicate.

And it's sort of the difference between—I found this during the measles outbreak in 2018, 2019. Talking to the parents of the children with measles and talking to the grandparents of those children was entirely different. The grandparents had seen tons of children with measles. They had probably had measles themselves. Their kids had had measles.

And it's sort of the difference between—I found this during the measles outbreak in 2018, 2019. Talking to the parents of the children with measles and talking to the grandparents of those children was entirely different. The grandparents had seen tons of children with measles. They had probably had measles themselves. Their kids had had measles.

And it's sort of the difference between—I found this during the measles outbreak in 2018, 2019. Talking to the parents of the children with measles and talking to the grandparents of those children was entirely different. The grandparents had seen tons of children with measles. They had probably had measles themselves. Their kids had had measles.