But belief is based on faith, not necessarily on fact. For example, we want to believe that vaccinating our children will keep them from getting sick with measles or chickenpox, while a plethora of information says this is not necessarily so.

Why is there an almost desperate need to defend the current belief – and trust – in vaccines? The public’s view of disease seems to be similar to our current view on terrorism: random attacks that are potentially deadly. The media hawks this view of childhood illnesses and the need for vaccines. Pharma sells it, doctors push it, and educational institutions reinforce it. They keep selling it because most people readily buy into it, without question. There is a "just in case" or "better be safe than sorry" mentality when it comes to vaccination and illness with children.* After nearly 200 years of use, fear still sells vaccination.

What do we really know about vaccines?

A review of the literature and CDC documents reveals the following:

1. Vaccine safety studies are relatively small and include only healthy children. When a vaccine trial has been completed, however, vaccines are given to ALL children, regardless of the condition of their health, family history or genetics.

2. Vaccine safety studies are short. Most clinical trials monitor for side effects a paltry 21 days; sometimes, only for 5 days. It can take months before immune system complications appear. This arbitrary deadline, established by the FDA, precludes associating vaccines with chronic health disorders. "Safe" is a designation based on limited information.

3. Vaccine safety studies do not use a true placebo. One of the gold standards in medical research is the "placebo-controlled" trial. An inactive substance such as a sugar pill is given as a placebo to one group of participants, while the treatment group is given the new drug. The data is analyzed to compare the number of side effects that occurred in those given the drug compared to the numbers of side effects that occurred in those given the placebo. However, the "placebo" used in vaccine research is not an inert substance such as sterile water; it is another vaccine. Inert, sterile water doesn't cause a reaction; as substitute vaccine can. If both groups of babies in a trial have the same number of reactions, the study reports that the vaccine "is as safe as a placebo." This is deceptive science.

4. Vaccine-induced antibodies do not correlate with protection. In fact, the esteemed journal Vaccine stated this clearly: "It is known that, in many instances, antigen-specific antibody titers do not correlate with protection." The full reference can be found at PMID: 11587808

Vaccination has been accepted as safe, effective and protective. The shots can be described as a medical "sacred cow," by definition, "a medical procedure unreasonably immune to criticism." The strong response is a reaction to the suggestion that the "medical cow" should be "sacrificed." It is heresy to suggest that the status quo is wrong.

When Copernicus insisted that the sun, not the earth, was the center of the solar system, his belief went against the philosophical and religious views of medieval times. And when two other Italian scientists, Galileo and Bruno, embraced Copernican theory, their comments were considered blasphemous. Bruno was tried before the Inquisition, condemned and burned at the stake in 1600. Thirty years later, Galileo was brought forward and, in front of his "Betters," forced to renounce his beliefs under the threat of torture and death. Even after his confession, he was sentenced to imprisonment for the remainder of his days.

The more one investigates vaccination and studies the adverse effects that have been attributed to vaccines, the more one becomes a Copernican heretic. I have personally invested more than 8,000 hours in revealing the truth about vaccines. If the result of this inquiry and exposure is to be called a heretic, then I am in wonderful company.

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*My thanks to Judy Converse, MPH, RD for these insights.