Congress enacted the National Childhood Vaccine Injury Act in 1986, and charged The Institute of Medicine with the task of reviewing the literature regarding adverse effects of vaccines covered by the program, a task that has been undertaken 11 times in the past 25 years. This volume presents results of the largest study undertaken to date and is the first comprehensive review since 1994. The review aims for truthful pursuit of facts, without obfuscation or propaganda, and clear-eyed evaluation of evidence through close analyses of the strength and validity of studies. The Committee's charge and its approach are summarized (literature searching, weight of evidence, causality assessment, special considerations). Subsequent chapters discuss evaluation of the biological mechanisms of adverse events and then present the specifics of each vaccine. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)