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Introduction

Vaccines are a hot topic today, but that’s really not anything new. They have been lauded, criticized, and discussed for hundreds of years, although the creation of new vaccines has certainly accelerated over the past 70 or so years. Yet dozens of misconceptions about vaccines still exist. For every person who embraces being fully vaccinated, there’s someone who questions certain vaccines or, worse, rejects them altogether, despite their proven benefits.

This book is for both groups — the people who vaccinate themselves and their families but who want to know more about them, and the people who have questions about vaccines. Our goal is to have everyone vaccinated and, even more important, happy knowing they’re doing the best thing for their health.

About This Book

Obviously, vaccines are the main topic of this book. But we intend to do more than just give you a vaccine schedule. We explain the history of vaccines (and it goes back much further than you might think), talk about the types of germs and diseases that led to vaccine development, and explain why the vaccine schedules are set up the way they are. We also discuss the myths about vaccines, especially with regard to children, and explain why the vaccine schedules have changed over the years.

A quick note: Sidebars (shaded boxes of text) dig into the details of a given topic, but they aren’t crucial to understanding it. Feel free to read them or skip them. You can pass over the text accompanied by the Technical Stuff icon, too. The text marked with this icon gives some interesting but nonessential information about vaccines.

One last thing: Within this book, you may note that some web addresses break across two lines of text. If you’re reading this book in print and want to visit one of these web pages, simply key in the web address exactly as it’s noted in the text, pretending as though the line break doesn’t exist. If you’re reading this as an e-book, you’ve got it easy — just click the web address to be taken directly to the web page.

Foolish Assumptions

Here are some assumptions about you, dear reader, and why you’re picking up this book:

 You want to learn more about vaccines in general.

 You’re willing to keep an open mind about vaccines and vaccinations.

 You’re looking for more information about how vaccines are created.

 You have questions about vaccine scheduling.

Icons Used in This Book

Like all For Dummies books, this book features icons to help you navigate the information. Here’s what they mean.

If you take away anything from this book, it should be the information marked with this icon.

This icon flags information that delves a little deeper than usual into a particular topic related to vaccines.

This icon highlights especially helpful advice about vaccines and vaccinations.

This icon points out situations and actions to avoid when you’re planning to be vaccinated.

Beyond the Book

In addition to the material in the print or e-book you’re reading right now, this product comes with some access-anywhere goodies on the web. Check out the free Cheat Sheet for questions to ask your pediatrician about vaccines, facts about adult vaccinations, and the scoop on different types of vaccines. To get this Cheat Sheet, simply go to www.dummies.com and search for “Vaccines For Dummies Cheat Sheet” in the Search box.

Where to Go from Here

You don’t have to read this book from cover to cover, but if you’re an especially thorough person, feel free to do so! If you just want to find specific information and then get back to work, take a look at the table of contents or the index, and then dive into the chapter or section that interests you.

For example, if you’re just looking for more information on childhood vaccination schedules, go to Chapter 8. Adult schedules are in Chapter 9. If side effects concern you, read Chapter 7. And if your main interest right now is coronaviruses, you’ll find a ton of info in Chapter 3.

Vaccines have changed the world for the better. We hope this book gives you confidence that vaccinating yourself and your family is the best way to keep you all healthy.