Vaccinations and Public Concern in History

Vaccinations and Public Concern in History explores vernacular beliefs and practices that surround decisions not to vaccinate. Through the use of ethnographic, media, and narrative analyses, this book explores the vernacular explanatory models used in inoculation decision-making.

Dr. Andrea Kitta is an Assistant Professor in the Department of English at East Carolina University and a Professional Associate for the Department of Pediatrics at Memorial University of Newfoundland. She has a Ph.D. in Folklore from MUN. She has done extensive research and presented on folklore and medicine, risk perception, urban legends, and health information on the Internet.

1. Introduction 2. Genres and Communicative Forms 3. Folkloric Content in Vaccine Narratives 4. Medical and Ethical Issues as Perceived by the Medical Community 5. Notions of Risk