Calling the Shots is the story of Florence, a healthy two-year-old girl until 36 hours after her Meningitis C vaccination, when she suffered the first of many terrifying convulsions. Driven by the fear of witnessing Florence suffer months of subsequent illness and the frustration of not being given a cause of the convulsions, her mother, Mary Alexander, began to research the history of inoculation, from its invention by Edward Jenner in 1797 to its present day role in the centre of the autism and MMR controversy. Mixing personal experience with factual research, Alexander examines the status quo of vaccination and highlights the questions she believes should be at the forefront of parents' minds: among others, how can trust in vaccination be restored? Why are GPs paid extra for vaccinating over 90 per cent of their patients? Are parents' expectations of success too high in this medically advanced world? Are all vaccinations necessary? This is not an anti-vaccine book. Instead it seeks to provide parents with the knowledge and curiosity needed to make an informed, confident decision about vaccination.
