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From:Clerk of the Board
To:Mutony, Heather
Cc:Lee, Lewis
Subject:Board Correspondence - FW: They lied: Disease declines were driven by living conditions, not vaccines
Date:Wednesday, September 2, 2026 1:56:35 PM
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Please see Board Correspondence -
Lewis LeeAdministrative Technician - ConfidentialButte County Administration25 County Center Drive, Suite 200 • Oroville, CA 95965T: 530.552.3326www.buttecounty.ca.gov | lelee@buttecounty.ca.gov
From: lance dreiss <lancedreiss@att.net>
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Subject: They lied: Disease declines were driven by living conditions, not vaccines
They Lied: Disease Declines Were Driven by Living Conditions, Not Vaccines
When we look honestly at the history of infectious disease, a very different picture emerges than the one we’re told. The steep
declines in childhood deaths from measles, scarlet fever, diphtheria, whooping cough, and others happened decades before
vaccines were introduced, and in many cases there was never even a vaccine available.
It was not because of vaccines that diseases were eradicated, but rather due to the improvement of basic human living
conditions:
• Nutrition: Better diets meant stronger immune systems. Malnutrition was once the leading factor making children
vulnerable to infections.
• Sanitation: Sewage systems, clean water supplies, and waste removal broke the chain of transmission for countless
pathogens.
• Housing & hygiene: Less crowding, better ventilation, soap, refrigeration, and overall improved home standards reduced
exposure.
• Economic progress: Rising living standards meant fewer children living in extreme poverty, where disease once thrived.
You can see it in the mortality charts: by the time vaccines were introduced for measles in 1963, for example, U.S. measles
deaths had already fallen by 98% from their peak. The same with scarlet fever — mortality collapsed without any vaccine at
all.
The credit belongs to public health measures, clean water, better food, and basic sanitation, not injections. In fact, public
health textbooks of the mid-20th century acknowledged exactly this: the greatest victories against infectious disease came
from improvements in living conditions, not pharmaceuticals.
diana dreiss