BooksCanadian

Lost Immunity

A novel by Daniel Kalla.

Daniel Kalla

CBC Books Posted: Jan 25, 2021 5:21 PM EST | Last Updated: December 14, 2021

A bird's eye view of a city full of skyscrapers.

An ordinary day

The city of Seattle is stunned when a deadly bacteria tears through a nearby Bible camp. Early tests reveal the illness is a form of meningitis, and the camp's residents are among its most vulnerable victims: children and teenagers.

A new vaccine

Facing a rapidly rising death rate, Seattle's chief public health officer, Lisa Dyer, and her team quickly take all steps necessary to contain the devastating outbreak. And when further testing reveals that the strain of the bacteria is one that caused catastrophic losses in Iceland six months before, Lisa decides to take a drastic step: she contacts Nathan Hull, vice president of a pharmaceutical company that is doing final-phase trials on a viable vaccine, and asks him to release it early for use on the city's population.

An epidemic in the making

Lisa gets the go-ahead on her controversial plan, despite the protests of dubious government officials, anti-vaxxers, and even those on her own team. Vaccine clinics roll out across the city, and the risky strategy appears to be working, leaving Lisa, Nathan, and thousands of others breathing a sigh of relief. Until people start dying from mysterious and horrific causes and the vaccine itself is implicated.

But what if science isn't to blame? (From Simon & Schuster Canada)

Daniel Kalla is an emergency room doctor, as well as an international bestselling author of 10 books, includingWe All Fall DownandThe Last High.

From the book

It's been a good streak by Pacific Northwest standards, Lisa thinks as raindrops spit across her windshield. It hasn't rained for over two weeks, which isn't that unusual for August. Unlike the rest of the year, when a week without precipitation in Seattle would be newsworthy, the summer often brings protracted dry spells. Still, Lisa's mood reflects the charcoal skies above. It's been a while since anyone died in front of her eyes, which is disturbing enough, but Zeke's case also represents the escalation of the outbreak that she had dreaded: community spread.

FromLost Immunityby Daniel Kalla2021. Published bySimon & Schuster.

Interviews with Daniel Kalla

White Coat Black Art26:30Amid pandemic, opioid crisis isnt going away and will kill more Canadians, says Dr. Daniel Kalla

Dr, Goldman speaks to Vancouver ER physician and author Dr. Daniel Kalla. Kalla's latest novel The Last High tracks the search for a deadly supply of fentanyl. Kalla also discusses his prescient previous novel , Pandemic, which was about the spread of a deadly virus. He tells Dr. Goldman how his work in the ER informed his writing, and discusses what kind of an impact the current pandemic is having on the opioid crisis.

Other books by Daniel Kalla

Add some good to your morning and evening.