Paul Offit
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2008-06-05T13:27:46Z
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'''Paul A. Offit''', MD, is a [[pediatrician]] specializing in infectious [[disease]] medicine, an internationally known expert on [[vaccine]]s, [[immunology]], and [[virology]], the Maurice R. Hilleman Professor of Vaccinology, Professor of [[Pediatrics]] at the [[University of Pennsylvania]], Chief of the Division of Infectious Diseases, and the Director of the Vaccine Education Center at The [[Children's Hospital of Philadelphia]]. Dr. Offit has been a member of the [[Centers for Disease Control]]'s (CDC) [[Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices]]. Dr. Offit has published more than 120 papers in medical and scientific journals in the areas of rotavirus-specific immune responses and vaccine safety and is the co-inventor of a rotavirus vaccine recently recommended for universal use in infants by the CDC. Offit is the co-author of several books, notably ''Breaking the Antibiotic Habit'' ([[1999]]), ''Vaccines: What You Should Know'' ([[2003]]), ''The Cutter Incident: How America’s First Polio Vaccine Led to Today’s Growing Vaccine Crisis'' ([[2005]]), and ''Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases'' ([[2007]]).
==Education==
Offit earned his bachelor's degree from [[Tufts University]] and his [[Medical Doctor]] credentials from the [[University of Maryland, Baltimore]].
==Rotavirus and the CDC==
Offit is a co-patent holder for RotaTeq, a [[rotavirus]] vaccine manufactured by [[Merck & Co.|Merck]] in 2006. It is the second vaccine against rotavirus to be introduced in the United States (the first, RotaShield, was withdrawn from the market six months after its introduction because of an association with [[intussusception]]).
The rotavirus vaccine is necessary to protect [[public health]], according to many experts. In the US, rotavirus is blamed for killing about sixty children a year. Rotavirus is often a deadly [[disease]] in developing countries, where it is thought to cause nearly a million deaths annually from severe [[dehydration]].
===Rotavirus vaccine returns===
In February, [[2006]], RotaTeq was approved for inclusion in the recommended US [[vaccination schedule]], after the [[Food and Drug Administration]] (FDA) granted marketing approval to Merck. Two studies, by Merck and its competitor [[GlaxoSmithKline]], were published in the ''[[New England Journal of Medicine]]'' concluding that the new vaccines have overcome the problems that plagued the original rotavirus vaccine.
==Recognition==
Offit is a recipient of numerous awards, including the J. Edmund Bradley Prize for Excellence in Pediatrics from the [[University of Maryland, Baltimore|University of Maryland]] Medical School, the Young Investigator Award in Vaccine Development from the [[Infectious Disease Society of America]], and a Research Career Development Award from the [[National Institutes of Health]].
==Quotes==
* "If they were willing to look at all the studies that were done with vaccines, they would find that they are, I think without question, the safest, best-tested thing we put into our bodies. I think they have a better [[safety]] record than [[vitamin]]s." (''[[60 Minutes]]'', October 20, 2004)
* "I think without question the [[smallpox vaccine]] has severe [[Adverse effect (medicine)|adverse events]] that occur at a rate far greater than any of the other vaccines that we use today. Which means that the [[smallpox]] vaccine, is I think, without question, our least safe vaccine. But it is absolutely safe if one defines 'safe' as benefits outweigh risks in a situation where the disease is present. When the disease isn't present, then one only is frankly aware of the risks, because there are no benefits." ([[PBS]], 2002)
==Publications==
===Books===
* [[2007]], ''Vaccinated: One Man's Quest to Defeat the World's Deadliest Diseases'', Smithsonian Books/Collins, ISBN 978-0-06-122795-0
* [[2005]], ''The Cutter Incident: How America's First Polio Vaccine Led to the Growing Vaccine Crisis'', Yale University Press, ISBN 978-0-300-10864-4
* [[2003]], ''Vaccines: What You Should Know'' (third edition), with Louis M. Bell, Wiley, ISBN 978-0471420040
* [[2003]], ''The Vaccine Handbook: A Practical Guide for Clinicians'', with Gary S. Marshall, Penelope H. Dennehy, David P. Greenberg and Tina Q. Tan, ISBN 978-0781735698
* [[1999]], ''Vaccines: What Every Parent Should Know'', by Paul A. Offit and Louis M. Bell, ISBN 978-0028638614
* [[1999]], ''Breaking the Antibiotic Habit: A Parent's Guide to Coughs, Colds, Ear Infections, and Sore Throats'', with Bonnie Fass-Offit and Louis M. Bell, ISBN 978-0471319825
===Medical articles===
* Moser, C.A., Speaker, T.J., Berlin, J.A., and Offit, P.A. [[1996]]. "Aqueous-based microencapsulation enhances rotavirus-specific humoral immune responses after parenteral inoculation of mice". ''Vaccine'' 14:1235-1238.
* Lomotan, E.A., Brown, K.A., Speaker, T.J., and Offit, P.A. [[1997]]. "Aqueous-based microcapsules are detected primarily in gut-associated dendritic cells after oral inoculation of mice". ''Vaccine'' 15:1959-1962.
* Moser, C.A., Speaker, T.J., and Offit, P.A. 1997. "Effect of microencapsulation on immunogenicity of a bovine herpes virus glycoprotein and inactivated influenza virus in mice. ''Vaccine'' 15: 1767-1772.
* Coffin, S.E., Moser, C.A., Cohen, S., Clark, HF., and Offit, P.A. 1997. "Immunologic correlates of protection against challenge after intramuscular immunization of mice with rotavirus". ''Journal of Virology''. 71:7851-7856.
* Coffin, S.E., Moser, C.A., Cohen, S., Speaker, T.J., and Offit, P.A. [[1997]]. "Enhanced protection and mucosal immunity induced by intramuscular inoculation of mice with microencapsulated rotavirus". ''Journal of Virology'' 71(10): 7851-6.
* Moser, C.A., Cookinham, S., Coffin, S.E., Clark, HF, and Offit, P.A. [[1998]]. "Relative importance of rotavirus-specific effector and memory B cell responses in protection against challenge". ''Journal of Virology''. 72:1108-1114.
* Brown, K.A. and Offit, P.A. 1998. "Rotavirus-specific proteins are detected in murine macrophages in both intestinal and extraintestinal lymphoid tissue". ''Microbial Pathogen''. 24:327-331.
* Coffin, S.E., and Offit, P.A. 1998. "Induction of rotavirus- specific memory B cells in gut-associated lymphoid tissue after intramuscular immunization. ''Journal of Virology''. 72:3479-3483.
* Moser, C.A., Speaker, T.J., and Offit, P.A. 1998. "Effect of water-based microencapsulation on protection against EDIM rotavirus challenge in mice". ''Journal of Virology''. 72:3859-3862.
* Coffin, S.E., Clark, S.A., Bos, N.A., and Offit, P.A. 1999. "Migration of antigen-presenting B cells from peripheral to mucosal lymphoid tissues may induce intestinal antigen-specific IgA following parenteral immunization". ''Journal of Immunology'' 163:3064-3070.
* Offit P.A. [[2008]]. ''Vaccines and autism revisited--the Hannah Poling case". '' [[New England Journal of Medicine]] 358(20):2089-91.
===Other===
*{{cite news |first=Paul |last=Offit |authorlink= |coauthors= |title=Inoculated Against Facts |url=http://www.nytimes.com/2008/03/31/opinion/31offit.html |publisher=[[New York Times]] |date=[[March 31]], [[2008]] }}
==External links==
* [http://www.med.upenn.edu/immun/Faculty/offit.html UPenn.edu] - 'Paul A. Offit, M.D., Department of Pediatrics, Children's Hospital of Philadelphia' (faculty home page), [[University of Pennsylvania]]
:* [http://www.chop.edu/consumer/jsp/division/generic.jsp?id=75689 CHOP.edu] - 'Vaccine Education Center at The Children's Hospital of Philadelphia'
* [http://www.pbs.org/newshour/bb/health/july-dec02/offit_smallpox.html PBS.org] - 'Dr. Paul Offit' (interview transcript), [[Jim Lehrer]], [[PBS]] (2002)
* [http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/c/a/2006/02/04/MNGCVH2TU11.DTL SFGate.com] - '[[Food and Drug Administration|FDA]] OKs safer vaccine for children: Second treatment to fight rotavirus also in the works', Sabin Russell, ''[[San Francisco Chronicle]]'' (February 4, 2006)
{{vaccines}}
[[Category:American physicians|Offit, Paul]]
[[Category:Living people|Offit, Paul]]
[[Category:American pediatricians|Offit, Paul]]
[[Category:American immunologists|Offit, Paul]]
[[Category:Vaccinologists|Offit, Paul]]