decline in disease before vaccines?

[surfmama]

please no fighting... i just want to know if anyone has info (reputable) on this? i have seen some data to suggest many illnesses had vastly declined before vaccines where introduced. just interested.

Any disease in particular?

True for some. Opposite for others, like polio actually the opposite - incidence increases with improvements in sanitation. And for others, not much difference.

Mortality and morbidity were already declining for some diseases where incidence was still high, like measles. Makes sense when you think that better medications (like antiobiotics) available to treat complications, population is better nourished etc. I wonder if with the increase in antibiotic resistance we may see increased mortality from measles. I certainly wouldn't be complacent.

But to me it's not much of an argument for not vaccinating. Car deaths (per mile travelled) have been declining because of better roads, improvements in car design etc. I still buckle my kids into their car seats or boosters every time we get into the car but then again, I'm risk averse which is also the reason I vaccinate.

Are we thinking of a decline in numbers catching diseases or a decline in the death rate?

Mortality without cause of death doesn't help much.

The graphs that are used to show that surfgirl were not exactly accurate.here is a good explanation how the data was fiddled

the HPA data shows the worst year for measles since official records began in 1940 was 1961