| Since Edward Jenner developed the smallpox vaccine in the 1700s, vaccines have been developed to protect children against measles, mumps, German measles (rubella), hepatitis A, hepatitis B, pneumococcus, meningococcus, Haemophilus influenzae type B (Hib), chickenpox, polio, diphtheria, pertussis, tetanus, and influenza. Of those fourteen vaccines, nine were developed by one person: Maurice Hilleman of Merck and Co. Hilleman’s vaccines were the single most important reason that, during the twentieth century, the lifespan of Americans increased by thirty years. In the United States, his measles vaccine eliminated a virus that caused one hundred thousand children to be hospitalized and five thousand to die every year; his mumps vaccine caused many schools for the deaf to close their doors; his rubella vaccine eliminated a virus that caused twenty thousand cases of birth defects and twenty thousand stillbirths annually; his hepatitis B vaccine was the first to prevent a cause of human cancer; and his meningococcal, pneumococcal, and Hib vaccines reduced the most common causes of bacterial meningitis and bloodstream infections. Worldwide, Hilleman’s vaccines save eight million lives every year. Despite his remarkable achievements, few people have ever heard Maurice Hilleman’s name. Hilleman’s anonymity was due to his reticence to promote himself, Merck’s unwillingness to credit one man, and the public’s perception that medical research is performed by scientists working in universities, not in pharmaceutical companies. Robert Gallo, co-discover of the virus that causes AIDS, said recently, “If I had to name one person who has done more for the benefit of human health with less recognition than anyone else, it would be Maurice Hilleman. Maurice should be recognized as the most successful scientist in history.” Now Dr. Paul Offit, Chief, Division of Infectious Diseases and Henle Professor of Immunologic Diseases at The Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia, and author of three books, including the forthcoming THE CUTTER INCIDENT: How America’s First Polio Vaccine Let to Today’s Growing Crisis in Vaccines (Yale), will tell the story of this remarkable man, an man whose accomplishments might be worthy of several Nobel Prizes.
"[Offit's] superb account…is medical writing at its finest: expertly crafted and beautifully told." — David Oshinsky, author of Polio and winner of the 2006 Pulitzer Prize "This extraordinarily fine, well-researched, and beautifully written book deserves the widest possible readership. More physicians should write this well." — Choice magazine "The book provides an enlightening glimpse into the complex interface between public health and private industry, and it chronicles the ability of a singularly tenacious person to bridge the void between the two and save more lives than perhaps any other scientist in history."—NEW ENGLAND JOURNAL OF MEDICINE "This vivid portrait of a unique man is interwoven with a thorough account of the science and politics of vaccination."—THE LANCET "[W]onderful new book … Offit is that rare writer who can translate science into English."—WASHINGTON CITY PAPER |
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