Selena Martinez

Annotated Bibliography

Bar-yam, Naomi B. "Political Issues. Calling the Shots: A Brief Look at the Vaccination
Controversy." International Journal of Childbirth Education 15.1 (2000): 39-41. Ebsco.
Web. 10 Nov. 2015.
This scholarly journal article on the Brief Look at the Vaccination Controversy touches base on
public health versus private choice issues, vaccine schedules, and the political issues that
accompany this topic. This article served my researching needs very well and gave a different
outlook due its perspective on the political rather than medical side of the vaccination war. Its
purpose was to not to evaluate medical evidence about vaccines, but rather to discuss some of the
policy issues surrounding the controversy. Some of the many sources that contributed to this
journal article were the CDC (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention), NIH (National
Institutes of Health), and the WHO (World Health Organization), all of which are credible and
reliable for conducting research. The author uses these resources, among others to provide facts
and statistics on the number of lives vaccinations have saved and how the discontinued use of
vaccines is proven to negatively effect populations, resulting in higher mortality rates. My
research benefits from this article in many ways and gives me reliable information on the public
health concerns of refusing to be vaccinated. These statistics support my researches in that
vaccinations should not be eradicated, but continue to be used in order to keep mortality due to
disease at as low of a rate as possible. The author has extensive article editing experience and is
well qualified to write on the political stance on the vaccination controversy. The article has been
published through The International Journal of Childbirth Education, where it serves its purpose
in informing the public on the reasoning that young children should be vaccinated. The author
does a great job of informing the reader on facts about the vaccination controversy without
leaving any misconceptions. Bar-yam does not hide the more sensitive subjects that accompany
the controversy such as the risks of certain immunizations, however, she continues with her
research by giving the hard-hitting evidence that refusing to be vaccinated can pose greater
threats than would have been present if the vaccines had been administered. The article is
arranged in such a way as to give as much factual evidence as possible in an organized and
relatable way. This article is for those wishing to expand their knowledge on the political
perspective on the vaccination controversy and is highly recommended for those needing solid
facts on the subject.

Chase, Allan. Magic Shots : A Human and Scientific Account of the Long and Continuing
Struggle to Eradicate Infectious Diseases by Vaccination. New York: Morrow, 1982.
Print.
This book provides a detailed discussion of the evolution of immunization. It is categorized as a
history book as a bulk of its information is focused on past vaccinations and what they did for
society. This book is relevant to my research and was written to provide details on how the
human race has benefitted from vaccinations, which goes to prove that being immunized has
been detrimental to survival. The information in this book is based on both human and scientific
accounts on the impact of vaccinations. It fulfills my research needs in the fact that it provides
evidence as to why vaccinations should be administered and how helpful they have been over the
past century. The historical information is very accurate as it is cited from historical books and
other sources, however, because it is a historical book, the information is dated. It was written in
1982 and therefore, is not as up to date as would be desired for this information. Allan chase is
an award-winning author and has the expertise of being an author, however, he is not necessarily
an authority on the information he is relaying. The publishing company is an American
publishing company of popular press, which has published many well-known authors. The
author of this book covers every historical vaccination ranging from smallpox and diphtheria, to
influenza, and pneumonia, and many more. The book is organized based on the disease and then
goes into detail on how it came to be and how it was eradicated. He not only discusses past
diseases, but also talks about the struggle that our society will most likely always face with
attempting to eradicate diseases that we have yet to find a cure for. This book is for anyone who
is serious about learning how the process of immunization has affected the human race. It is an
academic book, however, and would not be considered for the general population.
DeStefano, F., and R.T. Chen. "Autism And Measles-Mumps-Rubella Vaccination: Controversy
Laid To Rest?." CNS Drugs (2001). Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
This source is a scholarly article written about the MMR Vaccination in relevance to autism and
is relevant to my research. This journal was written to discuss the vaccination controversy and
determine if this controversy has been eradicated. It discusses how the link between the two
came about and exactly what the autistic enterocolitis hypothesis entails. It was written as an
informational article to determine that there is in fact, no link between the MMR and autism, or
any vaccines and disorders for that matter. The information is cited from many different medical
professionals, and studies conducted on the subject matter. It fulfilled my research needs in that it
gives solid scientific facts and evidence to talk about the controversy. The information seems to
be accurate because of the original sources from medical professionals who have dedicated their
lives to discovering vaccines and extinguishing disease. It has been written by authors with
authority on the subject matter and published through CNS Drugs, a health press focused on
publishing medical news. It covers the Measles-Mumps-Rubella controversy and concludes that
neither this vaccination, nor any other, has any supporting medical evidence linking them to
autism. This article is organized in a functional way in which anyone can use. It is geared toward

scholars and those conducting medical research, but would be useful to anyone interested in the
topic.
Fraleigh, James M. "Vaccination: Compliance Controversy." Rn 72.5 (2009): 36-40. MEDLINE.
Web. 17 Nov. 2015.
This article is a descriptive overview of vaccination challenges that nurses have faced over the
last decade and is relative to my topic because it covers the reasons that parents have been
reluctant to vaccinate their children. This articles main use is to inform nurses and other medical
professionals on the background as to why vaccinations are being refused by parents, past
vaccination shortages, and awareness of currently available vaccines. The information relayed in
this article is primarily a product of the CDC, or Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, and
the FDA. This article is extremely useful to my research needs due to its unique perspective on
the vaccination controversy, looking at it from the medical professional side and how they have
approached the situation. To my knowledge, the information presented is accurate and
corresponds well with all other journal articles that have been published on this subject. The
author is a freelance writer with experience reporting on the medical field, he is not a medical
professional himself, but his background experience provides him with credibility to report on
the subject matter. The article has been published through the popular press, Advanstar
Communications. It covers everything from vaccine shortages, the effects of immigration on
vaccinations, and even includes autism concerns in relation to the MMR vaccination. It is
organized by the different topics discussed in the article and even though the article is aimed
towards nurses and medical professionals, anyone can benefit from the research provided in this
article.
Gervais, Roger R. "Understanding The Vaccine Controversy." Natural Life 49 (1996): 12. Alt
HealthWatch. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
This scholarly journal article focuses on the vaccination controversy and how vaccinations are
being blamed for the deteriorating health among North American children. This article is very
relevant to my research, as my topic covers all aspects of the vaccination controversy. This
source in particular focuses on the side of the controversy that claims vaccinations to be
crippling the immune systems of todays children. The purpose of this journal article is to point
out possible consequences of childhood vaccinations that we, as Americans, are exposing our
children to that children of other countries are not experiencing. The information is retained from
various medical publishings and specialists trying to determine if there truly is a link between
vaccines and developmental disorders. The article proved to be useful in informing me on the
side of the controversy against vaccines and the research that seemingly attributes to this
viewpoint. The data is accurate to the extent that its facts may be correct, however the way the
author analyzes and draws conclusions from the data and facts may not be as credible. For
example, it is true that the development of asthma in children has slightly increased, but blaming
this fact on childhood immunizations seems to be a hasty conclusion to jump to. The author is a

naturopathic physician and does have experience in the medical field, giving him the authority to
speak on the subject. His article is published through the AltHealthWatch database. It is not a
highly cited journal article but would be useful to anyone needing information on the side
pushing for vaccinations to be cut back. The scope of this writing goes in depth when discussing
the concerns that are posed when giving children the amount of vaccinations that are currently
mandated. The author starts his article by first stating the main concerns that vaccinations are
creating within North America and then continues on to elaborate on said concerns and the
reasoning behind them. The article is fairly easy to read and understand, but is geared toward
scholarly use rather than use by the general public due to its many medical references.
Jit, Mark. "The Broader Economic Impact Of Vaccination: Reviewing And Appraising The
Strength Of Evidence." BMC Medicine. Academic Search Premier. Web. 19 Nov. 2015.
This source is a scholarly article and is focused on the economic impact of vaccinations. It is
relevant to my research because it discusses the economic aspect of vaccinations and takes my
research to a broader level. This article was written to analyze the conceptual framework of
pathways between immunization and the broader economic benefits that have developed because
of them. It discusses new immunization programs that have been developed all throughout the
world and how they have been beneficial. The information is retained from 20 studies conducted
based on the new immunization programs and their affects on things such as childhood
development and educational outcomes. It fulfills my research needs by showing how beneficial
vaccinations can be to a society. The information is accurate as the studies conducted were by
medical professionals who specialize in this field of work and the author does hold the credibility
to report on this information. It is published by BMC Medicine and I accessed it through a
scholarly database, both indicators that this article contains reliable and valid information. The
article covers the studies conducted and gives great analysis on immunization programs and their
benefits. The article is organized by giving the background information, methodology, and
results, all of which are backed up through evidence and supporting details. I do not think that
this article should be recommended for a non-specialist as it is not easy to read and the
information provided is very statistical.
Link, Kurt. The Vaccine Controversy: The History, Use, and Safety of Vaccinations. Westport,
CT: Praeger, 2005. Print.
This source is a book written by Dr. Kurt Link, a doctor who is in support of being vaccinated. It
contains information about the vaccination controversy and goes very in depth as to why
vaccines should be used and how they are protecting our community. This book applied directly
to my research by supplying the history and safety of vaccinations and because it has been
written within the past decade, the book is relatively current in its data and statistics. The
information is both accurate and reliable due to it being written by a practicing doctor of internal
medicine for over 35 years. He has dedicated his work to the history of vaccination, the various
types of vaccines, and their potential positive and negative effects they may have. The publishing

company, Praeger is an educational and academic publisher, which also contributes to the quality
of this book. The scope and coverage of this book is beyond any other scholarly journals that I
have come across because it has the ability to expand and go in depth on every aspect of the
vaccination controversy that the author discusses within it. The book is organized in a sort of
chronological order, starting with the history of vaccinations, continuing onto how they were first
administered and how they are administered now, and then proceeds to talk about how
vaccinations keep our population disease free and without them, we would be experiencing much
more illness in the world. The book is directed towards people learning about the vaccination
controversy and wanting to look at it from a medical, statistical view. This book would not be
considered useful to anyone; rather it is more useful to students and other scholarly endeavors.

Miller, Lisa, and Joni Reynolds. "Autism And VaccinationThe Current Evidence." Journal For
Specialists In Pediatric Nursing 14.3 (2009): 166-172. Health Source: Nursing/Academic
Edition. Web. 29 Nov. 2015.
This scholarly article is for the use of reviewing the evidence behind the correlation between
vaccinations and autism and is relevant to my research due to its in-depth analysis over scientific
studies attempting to link autism to vaccines. This article was written to provide nurses with
current evidence on the effects of vaccinations in order to guide the advice they administer to
their patients and their families. Much of the data cited in this article originates from the Centers
for Disease Control and Prevention, along with the Archives of Disease and Childhood, as well
as individual medical research conducted by specialized physicians. This article proved to be
useful in my research because it discusses the topics of vaccination history, vaccine safety and
monitoring systems, as well as the results vaccines have had on our society in both positive and
negative ways. This article is both reliable and valid as the information clearly aligns with all
other vaccination controversy research. Due to both authors obtaining jobs in the health field
specializing in immunizations, they both seemingly attain the authority to speak on the subject
matter. The article was published through the HealthSource database, which focuses on any and
all scholarly journals that relate to medicine. It is a very useful article and would help attribute to
any research needing to be done on the vaccination controversy. The article had very thorough
explanations and conclusions; the main conclusion being that no scientific studies have identified
links between autism and the MMR vaccination. The article starts by discussing the history of
vaccines, continues to the vaccines used today, then elaborates on these vaccines and their
contents, and summarizes with recent events and happenings that have occurred due to the
vaccines administered today. The article is for the use of medical professionals and can be
extremely useful for students needing scholarly research materials.
National Institute of Child Health and Human Development (U.S.). Autism and the MMR
Vaccine. Rockville, MD: U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, 2001. Web. 29 Nov.
2015.

This article is very relevant to my research in that it discusses whether or not autism and the
MMR vaccination are truly linked. The article discusses what autism is and why people have
come to believe that autism is linked the MMR vaccination. It then goes on to talk about how
vaccines help the immune system overall and gives the scientific and medical advice of many
professionals if the vaccine should be administered. The article was mainly written to eradicate
any misinformation on the link between autism and the MMR vaccination. The information is
retained from medical professionals and studies conducted on the subject, making the
information both reliable and valid. There is not one specific author, however the article was put
together by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development; an organization that
does withhold the authority to report on this information. It was published by the U.S
Department of Health and Services, an organization focused on the health of the human race. The
article covers the facts on the MMR vaccination and autism and the study said to have linked the
two together. The article is organized in question and answer form. It takes the major questions
that parents and the general public have had about the vaccination controversy and answers them
in depth. Anyone can use this source to gather more information on the topic and I believe that it
is a good resource used to clear up any misinformation on the topic.

Oshinsky, David. "The Return of the Vaccine Wars; the Controversy Over Vaccines is as Old as
Vaccination itself." Wall Street Journal (Online) 20 Feb 2015. ProQuest. Web. 29 Nov.
2015.
This source comes from an article published in the online version of the popular New York Times.
It is relevant to my research in the fact that it discusses how the vaccination controversy has been
a continuous issue ever since vaccines were created. It serves the purpose of elaborating on the
creation of the original dispute on whether or not to vaccinate our children. The information
contained has both historical and medicinal roots, giving the article a diverse range of sources.
This writing fulfilled my research needs by giving me the background knowledge I needed as to
why people began to refute vaccinations in the first place. The information is accurate and is in
correspondence with all other writings on this subject matter. A journalist for the New York Times
whom is a qualified researcher and reporter writes it; however, he reports on many subjects and
is not considered to be a specialist or authoritative figure on the vaccination controversy. His
employment through the New York Times gives him reliability in that he will report the facts to
the readers of the well-known company. Because it is published by the New York Times and also
posted on the ProQuest scholarly database, the contents of the article are well written and would
be a great source to cite if doing research on how the vaccination controversy got its start. It
covers not only the history of the age-old controversy, but also court cases and government
policies that have been fought over the requirements of certain vaccines. This article is organized
in such a way as to give the reader the beginnings of the controversy and then continues on to
expand how the vaccination controversy grew into what it is today. Although the article was
published through the New York Times, it is considered to be a more scholarly journal article
geared towards those wishing to broaden their scope on vaccinations.

Parker, Laura. The Anti-Vaccine Generation: How Movement Against Shots Got Its Start.
National Geographic. National Geographic, February 6 2015. Web. 27 September 2015.
This source is an article based out of the website National Geographic, it is not a scholarly
article but it is a reliable source of information due to the credibility of the publishing company.
The website article provides information on how the distrust of vaccinations came to be and
states that the roots of this distrust is in the government and science. The article was written to
give National Geographic readers an insight to the vaccination controversy that many have heard
about but hardly know the facts. The article discusses the way in which society has become
prisoners of our own success by not knowing exactly how impactful vaccinations are on our
health. The author draws information from political debates and public medical records on the
topic to analyze the facts on the controversy. This website fulfilled my research needs through
applying why we use vaccinations in the first place. The author talks about how being able to
control the outbreak of disease is beneficial to our society in many ways and is able to eliminate
the amount of people effected by these diseases each year. Without the current vaccinations and
policies that our society has found, we would have no control over disease outbreaks. The
information relayed in this article does not possess as much reliability compared to that of a
scholarly journal, however, it does hold some validity due to both author and publisher
credibility. The author does not hold the authority to be an expert over the topic because the
author writes articles discussing various topics, but because of her experience as a writer for
National Geographic, she has the research skills necessary to write on the topic. The publishing
company is National Geographic, a popular press with a notable reputation for reporting on
popular scientific topics. It covers exactly what the topic states: how the movement against shots
got its start. The website article gives information from the beginning of the first vaccination and
continues to cover how we have become blind to just how helpful they are by attempting to
reject the very vaccinations that are saving our lives. Anyone can read this article and as it is part
of a popular public news website, it is available to anyone wanting to gain knowledge on the
specific subject matter.
Petts, Judith, and Simon Niemeyer. "Health Risk Communication And Amplification: Learning
From The MMR Vaccination Controversy." Health, Risk & Society. Academic Search
Premier. Web. 8 Dec. 2015.
This article discusses immunization as being the cornerstone of childhood disease prevention and
how the misinformation of the vaccination controversy has been creating an issue. This is
relevant to my research because it discusses the vaccination controversy. It was written to
establish how important of a role the media plays in this controversy and how we can use the
media to help parents make sense of the health risk issues. The information in the article is based
off of face-to-face engagement with medical professionals and also retrieved from studies
conducted on the topic. This article fulfills my research needs as it focuses on how the media
plays a role in medical issues. The information seems to be accurate as it is derived from
specialists on the issue. It was published by a health society, giving it reliability. It covers how

the MMR vaccine has been a worldwide success, and then goes on to describe how one sliver of
misinformation can spiral out of control. I believe that this article would be of good use for
scholars, but not for the general population, as the reading level is high and the reports are not
something that would necessarily be of pubic interest.

Should Any Vaccines be Required for Children? ProCon.org. ProCon, 9 Oct. 2015. Web. 29
Nov. 2015.
This source stems from a website based article which gives the pros and cons based on the
question Should any vaccines be required for children? and is relevant to my research because
of its side-by-side analysis of administering vaccines. This website was created in order to give
the general public an easy way to see some of the reasons as to why there is a debate in the first
place. The information used is based off of statistics given by many different credible medical
institutions such as the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Centers for Disease Control and
Prevention, and the National Vaccine Information Center. It fulfilled my research needs by giving
me a base knowledge of the two sides of the vaccination controversy as well as the argument
between the MMR vaccine and its link to autism. Although this is a website constructed to give
an overview of knowledge and is not a scholarly source, the information provided on the website
is cited from otherwise credible sources. There is no author attributed to this webpage and it is
published by Pro con.org; a website that explores the pros and cons of many different
controversial issues. The website not only provides a pro/con list on whether or not to be
vaccinated, but also includes information on the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act, and the
autism debate. The way in which this article is organized makes it easy to comprehend and
decipher. The pro/con list gives the website a great added value and serves to relay quick, yet
descriptive, information to the reader. The website is very easy to use and although it is not
considered to be a scholarly source, the information is valuable to anyone who may reference it.
The History of Vaccination. Vaccinations. NHS Choices, n.d. Web. 28 September 2015.
This source is a website which gives a brief breakdown on the history of vaccinations and
provided an overview of major time periods of the past and the new advancements in medicine at
that time. The source was applicable to my research, but did not alone provide me with sufficient
information due to the broadness of the website. The website was created by the National Health
Service based out of the UK and is strictly a broad overview with no in-depth details and was
made to give a basic knowledge of the history of vaccinations. The information is retrieved from
history and past medical records. The source seems be reliable, but the information seems to be
second-hand as there are no citations to be found. The reliability factor is present because the
information on this website corresponds with other sources, however the quality of the source
may not be of sufficient standards. No specific author is given, which also attributes to the
unreliability that this article may entail. It seems to just be a webpage constructed by the
fabricators of the entire NHS website which takes away any authority that an author would need
to discuss the history of vaccinations properly. The publisher, the NHS, is a widely known health
service and is credible for providing healthcare for UK citizens. The coverage of the article is

short and to the point, it covers vaccination milestones from ancient Greece all the way to the 21st
Century in a chronological timeline. It is incredibly easy to use and is good for the general
public, but this would not be a good source for someone looking to broaden their knowledge on
the vaccination controversy.
"Vaccination." Culture Wars in America: An Encyclopedia of Issues, Viewpoints, and Voices. Eds.
Roger Chapman and James Ciment. London: Routledge, 2013. Credo Reference. Web. 15
Sep. 2015.
This scholarly journal article provides the reader with background on the first vaccinations and
how they came to be. It then goes on to give the vaccination laws that were established to require
the public to receive certain vaccinations to help keep the population healthy and free of disease.
However, with these laws came court cases in which citizens began to fight the required
vaccinations due to their different personal reasons. This article is extremely relevant to my
research and provides me with strong supporting facts as to how the vaccination controversy
came to be. It is strictly informational and serves the purpose of educating anyone who desires to
learn about the vaccination war. It recalls both historical and judicial evidence as means for
relaying the information within the article and because of this, the information is both reliable
and valid. The editors have clearly done the necessary research to be seen as authoritative figures
on this topic as they both have extensive knowledge and experience with the vaccination
controversy. The article is classified as scholarly and is published by Routledge, the worlds
leading academic publisher in the Humanities and Social Sciences, adding to its credibility. The
article covers the basic topic overview, going in depth in certain areas such as how concerns
were originally raised on the administration of vaccinations. The article goes from giving a brief
introduction, then provides background information, and sums itself up with details on the
vaccination war itself. Anyone who is interested in the topic can read this article, as it is not
extremely challenging to comprehend. This scholarly journal article served my topic research
needs and would provide significant impact on any other research conducted on this topic.