Deaths from measles, pertussis, scarlet fever and other communicable diseases of childhood were mostly gone before vaccination. You may be surprised but two centuries of official statistics reveal that while it is true that in the 19th and early 20th centuries childhood diseases caused great numbers of deaths, around the time of the 2nd World War and every year thereafter deaths continued to drop and drop.
What lowered the death rate if it wasn’t vaccines? Improved standards of living, cleaner water, better food, better sanitation and better plumbing improved the health and immune systems of children (and adults).
See official statistics of many formerly killer diseases here.
