Book Review: Childhood Vaccinations
Stacie Deyglio, ND
The process of making informed decisions about childhood vaccinations can be long and, often times, perplexing. The reason for this commonly lies within the failure of sufficient information being compiled in one source as well as for the information to be directly accessible to the lay and medically trained communities.
Dr. Bailetti has resolved to provide a solution to this process with her research and two new books, Childhood Vaccinations: Answers to your questions and Making Informed Decisions workbook.
“Many people are unaware that there are risks associated with vaccines, and very few have any idea of what kinds of risks are possible” (p. 60).
Dr. Bailetti’s books focus on clarifying vaccination concerns, providing scientific rationalizations about vaccine preventable infections and explaining vaccine options, as well as offering practical guidelines for parents. In her book, Dr. Bailetti provides the concentrated research findings of her three-year investigation on the subject in a well organized and heavily cited paperback.
This book is written in three parts: Part 1 focuses on an introduction to vaccines, infections and options. This discusses vaccine basics, including the infections vaccines are meant to defend against, vaccine schedule(s), options, incidences of infection, treatments and risks. Part 2 concentrates on general vaccine issues. This includes risks, components, efficacy, safety, contraindications and cautions of vaccinations. This chapter of the book also contains an interesting element on the ethical conflicts of vaccination. Part 3 centers on specific vaccination issues, such as vaccinations’ effects on the immune system, their relationship to autism and sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS), and the concern over mercury as a vaccine preservative. Besides the rational and straightforward context of the book, Dr. Bailetti has also included multiple tables and graphs to further elucidate her findings with statistical rationale.
The compendium workbook is a process-oriented guidebook that engages the reader and facilitates informed decision making about childhood vaccinations. The workbook provides charts, schedules, questions, informative steps, sample letters and a full list of resources to follow up with. This is a valuable tool to have in-office as well as to offer to patients with questions and concerns about childhood vaccines. The information is inclusive and compiled in one concise and clearly written resource.
The information of Dr. Bailetti’s books best support the naturopathic principle of Docere. By providing a keen and informative guide, Dr. Bailetti is supporting the education of patients and encouraging the self-responsibility for health. Often times, information about childhood vaccinations can be delivered in a vague or authoritative way. Knowledge offers strong empowerment, especially in the situation of making informed decisions about a child’s well-being and health. Dr. Bailetti’s books offer strong evidence and scientific research for making informed decisions that are in the best interest of the individual child.
Stacie Deyglio, ND received her baccalaureate degree in biology with a minor in chemistry from the College of Mt. St. Vincent in New York. Her personal health issues paved the way to discovering naturopathic medicine in 1999. Resonating with the philosophy and principles of naturopathic medicine, Dr. Deyglio graduated from the University of Bridgeport, College of Naturopathic Medicine in 2003. As a medical student, she was involved in student government, fundraising and the generation of two successful student-run health fairs. Dr. Deyglio’s interests include relating integrative therapeutics to the health of pediatric and geriatric populations. Currently residing in Phoenix, Dr. Deyglio is an avid bookworm, and is actively creating her practice.
